Sweet Child Of Mine
by MonstersAreReal
Summary: AU. Blaine's left with his brothers daughter and is forced to raise her by himself. That is until he meets Kurt Hummel. However, Cooper's back in town and wants his daughter back. Blaine's not going to let that happen.
1. Part 1

**Hello there! **

**If you are reading this and following my other story 'Hello, Brooklyn' I'm not able to update that until Saturday this week. But you will get it guys, I promise.**

**This is a new thing I tried out prompted by my friend 'IthinkIjustgleedmyself' (That's her name on Tumblr too, go follow her -though she is a big Finchel fan I warn you all.)**

**This is a three part story and will be updated every Wednesday for the next two weeks.**

**It's a little different, but you know, we all need to take risks. Beta'd by IthinkIjustgleedmyself as per usual. -She's the best!**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

Blaine Anderson didn't think he'd be spending his Friday morning in his brother's daughter's Kindergarten class. His niece, Isabella Anderson, was just your average five year old little girl. She was hyperactive 90% of the time, loving and caring to those around her, and always willing to help. She was the nicest little girl Blaine had ever met. Her dark curls flowed past her neck in large ringlets, and her big brown eyes seemed to have their own emotions most of the time. Her adorable little face conveyed so much emotion toward her Uncle that Blaine sometimes couldn't believe she was real. Isabella was Blaine's older brother's little girl, Cooper Anderson.

However, Cooper wasn't the best dad in the world. At the age of twenty one, while Blaine was still in college, Cooper decided to abandon his little girl and leave her in the care of his younger brother. Blaine, at the time, didn't know how to look after a one year old. Hell, he was still struggling with it all right _now_. Luckily, he had graduated from college at twenty two and was settled into a job in a High School as a Performing Arts teacher, so now he could provide for the surrogate family he had.

Blaine loves Isabella, he really does. She is the best thing to happen to him, but a part of him wishes that she still had a real Dad, one that cared for her the way a father should. He knows Isabella loves him too; she loves him like _he_ is her Dad. Blaine's always been honest with Isabella, she knows that he isn't her biological Dad and she doesn't call him Dad - she never has done. He knows honesty is the best thing to do, but sometimes he just wishes she could say that she had a Dad and not a 'Blaine'.

It's a Parent day at Kindergarten today, that's why Blaine is sat on one of the many colourful chairs in the bright classroom, listening to Isabella talk to him about all her different friends.

"That's Frank." She points to a little boy who's stood in the corner with his Mom and Dad, showing them what looks to be a drawing he had done. "And that's my bestest friend Sophie." She points in the opposite direction to a little girl with blonde hair and glasses. Her Mother notices Isabella pointing and waves, causing Bella to giggle and wave proudly back. Blaine thinks he really needs to spend more time getting to know Bella's friends and their parents. He probably should do, considering that he does work at the school, well the High School department, but it's within the same region. He doesn't really have an excuse for _not_ getting to know Bella's friend's parents - he's in her class often enough. Rachel Berry, her Kindergarten teacher, is practically his best friend, and he spends most of his free time with her and her fiancé Finn Hudson.

"Blainers?" Isabella snaps her fingers in front of Blaine's face, causing him to jump back to reality. "Were you not listening to me?" She pouts and places her hands on her hips.

"Sorry sweetie, my mind was elsewhere. You were saying?" Blaine eyes the little girl stood in front of him.

"Blainers, are you okay?" She strokes his hair softly, her chubby little hand resting on his warm cheek.

"Don't you worry about me beautiful, I'm fine." Blaine smiles and leans into her touch. Isabella's always been much older than she looks. Her birth certificate might say she's only five years old, but mentally she acts like a wise old lady. She always knows when something is wrong with Blaine and, regardless of how complicated it may be, Blaine will always tell her and she will help him through it.

Once again, she's right - there is something wrong with Blaine, but its way out of her league and, even if he did tell her, it might cause some problems for them both, so he decides on keeping this one to himself.

"Blaine!" He turns his head to the side and spots Rachel making her way to him.

"Ms Berry!" Bella runs and dives into Rachel's arms. She knows she isn't supposed to call Rachel by her first name in school and Blaine's just thankful she obeys. Rachel laughs and bends down, crouching on her knees to snuggle Isabella tightly. Blaine watches the interaction, the way Rachel whispers something in Bella's ear and how Bella giggles, throwing her head back and then scurries off to her friend Sophie.

Rachel calls the class and the parents to order, informing them that the children will now be allowed to play in the yard for twenty minutes and, if the parents wish to join them, then they are welcome to. The flurry of children all gathering their coats and then taking their Mom's and Dad's hands and pulling them outside, is over within a few minutes until it is just Rachel, Blaine and a tall dark-haired man who looks a similar age to himself and Rachel.

"Blaine, this is Kurt Hummel, you know Finn's step brother," Rachel introduces him to the good looking man. He stands up from the coloured chair and offers his hand to Kurt.

"Of course, it's lovely to meet you Kurt." Rachel smiles at the interaction and then informs Kurt on Blaine. She explains which child is his and briefly explains his situation. Kurt nods and takes in all the information he is given in about 30 seconds – Rachel talks _very_ fast.

"Well," He says once Rachel's finished and moved onto other matters, such as tiding the classroom up. "It's great to meet you too. Rachel has told me about you, but she hasn't really done you justice." Blaine's mouth twitches and his cheeks flush a soft red.

"I wish I could say the same. She hasn't really described you before." In the 6 years Blaine has known Rachel, he thinks she's mentioned Kurt once, maybe twice up until a few weeks though, and now Blaine understands why. "So, are you training to be a teacher or something?" Blaine asks when his cheeks return to their regular colour. He shoves his hands in his jeans pockets and shifts his weight from foot to foot.

"No, actually." Kurt laughs. "Rachel got me this as kind of like a favour, work experience almost. I get paid for it too, so that's a bonus." Kurt bends to pick up a discarded piece of paper and then deposits in it the trash can. "But teaching isn't what I want to do."

Blaine nods. "Oh."

Rachel claps her hands from behind Blaine and startles the two men. "Right boys, enough." She stomps between the two and parts them a little. Blaine hadn't realised how close they had gotten to one another and shuffles awkwardly on his feet a little. "I need my helper. Blaine," She turns. "Are you coming to my place tonight for dinner?"

"Uh, sure." He shrugs his shoulders. He might as well - free food and he doesn't have to slave over the cooker acting like he can actually cook a decent meal. In actual fact, Blaine is a pretty good cook, but with work and Bella, he doesn't have much time to cook an actual meal. His Mother taught him how to cook when he was a teenager and he now knows how to cook a mean spaghetti, as well as other meals.

"Great, now get outside and find Bella, she'll be complaining if you aren't there." Rachel pats his shoulder and shoves him backwards. He offers a small smile to Kurt, who in return gives a tiny wave with his delicate fingers. Blaine trudges out of the classroom door and out into the brisk air of New York City in the winter. Hugging his jacket to himself, he searches in the sea of children and their parents for Bella. He spots her by the benches with what appears to Sophie and her parents. Blaine heads over to join them and takes a seat beside Bella.

"Blainers, this is Sophie, and Sophie's Mom and Dad." Sophie's parents look a little confused by Bella calling Blaine by his name. He quickly introduces himself, trying to ignore the looks of confusion passed between the two adults. "Sophie and I made pictures yesterday, Blaine. I'll show you them when Ms Berry calls us back inside." Blaine nods in acknowledgement.

Sophie distracts Bella with a conversation about some of the boys who are playing by the grass with a soccer ball. Huddles of parents are stood nearby cheering on the kids. Blaine admires the sight; it's different from his usual day at work. He teaches High School students and it's a far cry from hyperactive 5 year olds. Usually he ends up dealing with bullying and breaking up fights in the corridors, and somehow the atmosphere here is refreshing – the kids running frantically around, playing with their friends and laughing with their parents. He likes the idea of teaching younger kids, but he doesn't think he could ever do it. Rachel tells him she's stressed enough and there are a lot of problems with younger children. Their home lives are more complicated and because they are so young and don't understand, it's harder to deal with the issues they bring. Blaine figures he has enough with all the troubles teenagers carry.

Rachel calls her class to order, and the kids and their parents start to file inside the warm classroom. Blaine follows closely behind Bella and Sophie, keeping his hands shoved in his pockets the whole while. The other parents probably think he's a little strange because he isn't talkative with anyone other than the teacher, but he has a lot on his plate; none of them understand the problems he has.

He passes Rachel, who smiles and points to Kurt who is stood at the far end of the classroom. Kurt waves him over and Blaine jogs his way to him. They stand side by side, occasionally nudging shoulders, while Rachel informs the parents on their children's progress along with the up and coming weeks in Kindergarten.

* * *

"Hey, everyone!" Blaine calls as he opens the door to Rachel and Finn's apartment, letting Bella scurry inside first. He and Rachel live in the same building but on different floors. Because of their work and college life they've gotten close enough that they both have a key to one another's apartments, and just come and go as they please. It's nothing new to Bella, which is why she runs to Finn and dives on the back of the couch, smothering him with her tiny body and giggling as he pulls her forward and tickles her belly.

"Blaine," A familiar voice comes from behind him as he's setting down the bottle of white wine he brought on the kitchen counter.

"Kurt?" Blaine swivels on his heels and takes in the extremely good looking man from just a few hours prior. He's changed clothing and looks even more stunning, if that's possible - donning dark, skin tight jeans and a purple sweater, which Blaine thinks is Prada, and a stunning Alexander McQueen scarf. "I love your scarf," he tells him and pulls him into a hug. Kurt tenses at first, startled by Blaine's forwardness. Blaine's always been a pretty affectionate guy and so tends to go a little crazy on the PDA. Eventually, Kurt relaxes and chuckles at Blaine, pulling back and running his long, delicate fingers down the length of his black and white skull patterned scarf.

"Thank you, this scarf is like my prized possession. I only had enough money to buy one before he sadly passed and now they've doubled in price." Blaine grins and allows Kurt to lead to him the living area. Even though he's been in this apartment many times, he still likes the idea of Kurt leading him to the lounge. It's sweet, and Kurt's a lovely guy, from what he's seen so far anyway. Blaine can't help but watch him closely as he leads the way – his eyes also don't stray from the back of his head, at all. Nor does he check out Kurt's fine ass in those tight jeans, not one bit - Blaine really needs to get his head straight. He should focus on something _other_ than Kurt.

"'Sup Blaine." Finn fist bumps Blaine as he walks into the living room and sits himself down next to Bella, who is sat precariously on Finn's lap, watching the football game that's playing on the TV set.

"How're things?" Blaine questions settling into the couch and running his fingers through Bella's long hair. She bats his hand away, her eyes never once leaving the TV, and Finn chuckles, his body convulsing and causing Bella to shake with him.

"Good, things are good," Finn replies, attempting to peer around Bella's body to watch the TV himself. Blaine sits up and grabs Belle under her hands, pulling her sideways and onto his lap instead.

"Uncle Finn wants to watch the game, sweetie. You were blocking his view." Bella's frown disappears and she settles into Blaine's chest, laying back and intertwining her little hand with Blaine's larger, more tanned one.

"Rach just went out to get the food. She didn't have time to cook when she got home so she ordered Chinese." Blaine nods: he's okay with Chinese, that's like his favourite take out.

"Why didn't you make anything?" He laughs at the thought of even asking Finn that question.

"Pfft, I can't cook, man. You should know this by now," In fact Blaine didn't know this, he just assumed Finn wasn't a great cook because, in the year and a half that he has known Finn, he has never once seen him even enter the kitchen for anything that wasn't beer or potato chips.

Bella shushes the two men, who smirk and turn their attention back to the game. Blaine's attention is soon drawn to something else though – or should he say _someone_ else. Kurt is wandering around the living room, pacing the hallway back and forth, texting on his cell phone. Probably to his boyfriend, Blaine thinks, and his heart sinks a little. He hasn't been directly told by Kurt himself that's he's gay, but the first time he met Finn the first thing the guy mentioned was his step-brother Kurt who was, to quote, 'just like Blaine'. Kurt pauses in the hallway and then stomps his way into the living room, his eyes quickly scanning over Blaine, meeting with a pair of hazel ones, and Blaine watches as Kurt's face turns a shade of crimson that really suits him.

"Finn," He barks. "Can I borrow your cell? I've been trying to call my Dad for the past half an hour and nothing's going through." Before Finn can even look in Kurt's general direction, Blaine is lifting his hips from the couch, causing Bella to squirm and wriggle until he's got his ass placed back firmly on the seat, and fishing out his cell phone.

"Here, use mine," Blaine offers. Kurt eyes it and then shakes his head.

"I can't do that, it's fine honestly, Finn," Kurt continues his hand resting on his perfectly rounded hip.

Finn doesn't even look up to meet Kurt's eyes, he grumbles out; "Just use Blaine's." And then shuts his mouth, continuing to watch the game silently. Kurt cautiously walks closer to Blaine and places his hand on the opposite end of the cell phone.

"You sure?" He asks. Blaine nods instantly and, as Kurt pulls the cell from Blaine's grasp, their fingers brush. Blaine blushes and buries his head in Bella's hair, hiding his red cheeks. Kurt mouths a thank you and stalks off with Blaine's cell phone.

Blaine continues to watch the rest of the game in relative silence along with Finn and Bella, except for when there is a seriously dirty foul and it starts a fight on the pitch. Finn's yelling at the screen when Rachel walks in and drops the three take out bags onto the coffee table, shaking her head at her fiancé. She briefly greets Blaine and ruffles Bella's hair, before shrugging out of her jacket and wandering off again only to return a few seconds later with five plates and some cutlery. She calls Kurt's name and, after a minute or so, he comes into the living room, cell phone lodged between his ear and neck, talking to what Blaine presumes is his father.

"Yes, Dad." His suspicions are correct. "No, Dad. Yes, Finn's fine. I'm fine, we're _all_ fine." He rolls his eyes and smiles at Blaine and Bella, slotting into the spare seat and curling his legs underneath him. "No, as soon as I can find a decent apartment I'm moving out of Finn and Rachel's." Blaine purses his lips. So, Kurt's crashing with Rachel and Finn until he finds his own place. The thought makes Blaine smile at nothing and his mind wanders to what kind of advantages that could lead to. If he hadn't grown up in New York, it would have been difficult for him to get a decent apartment. But, luckily for him, not only were his parents swimming with cash, but he knew this city like the back of his hand. He knew the best and worst areas, and obviously Kurt's new to the place, so maybe he could be his guide.

Blaine only realises Kurt is talking to him when Bella accidently – or maybe on purpose, he can't be sure - elbows him in the stomach, leaning over to get some food from Rachel.

"I said," Kurt repeats, "Thank you for letting me use your cell." He's dangling the black IPhone in front of Blaine's face, and he jerks his body back a little, shocked at the close proximity of the phone.

"No problem," He replies, taking the phone from Kurt's hands and easily sliding it into his jeans pocket now that Bella has moved to the edge of his knees instead of his lap.

Rachel hands him his favourite; chicken fried rice. Apparently, Finn had left the room whilst he was having his little awkward moment with Kurt, and returns with two beers. He hands one to Blaine and then slumps back into the couch, getting his own special fried rice and prawn crackers. Bella shuffles further forward to reach her juice box Rachel had gotten her and sips it gratefully. Blaine has to keep his hand on her tiny little waist to make sure she doesn't slide off of his knees while she's getting her food.

They sit in relative silence munching on their food for the next few minutes. Finn's eyes never once stray from the TV screen and occasionally he shouts something, his mouth full, earning himself something thrown at him from the general direction of Kurt. Blaine tries to hold back his laughter when a piece of balled up wrapping paper from the Chinese food hits Finn right on the forehead. Bella giggles loudly and almost falls off Blaine's lap. He has to drop his rice to stop her from face planting the floor.

"Okay, that's enough. Sit back Belle, please." Bella huffs and shuffles backwards into Blaine's lap. He moves his unfinished rice to the coffee table and wraps his arms around the little girl as she continues waffling down her food.

"Rach, I brought some wine if you want that." Rachel smiles and quickly jumps up to jog to the kitchen and retrieve the wine. She returns with two wine glasses and two more beers for Finn and Blaine. Kurt accepts the white wine, saying 'thank you' to Blaine, who smiles shyly in response.

"After today and last week, I plan on getting so drunk I can't tell you the day of the week!" Rachel announces and almost downs the whole glass of wine in one go.

* * *

As the night progresses Rachel does get _way_ too drunk. Finn is pretty drunk himself and it appears the only sober adults are Blaine and Kurt. After the bottle of wine Blaine brought round got emptied and thrown into the trash, another was opened and Finn must have been through 6 beers already. Blaine was only on his third and nowhere near as drunk as he should be.

Karaoke had died down about an hour ago and now music was just playing through someone's IPod. Blaine assumed it was Rachel's as only Broadway songs were continuously playing. Isabella had fallen asleep on Blaine's lap a little after Rachel had finished singing 'Don't Rain On My Parade' and he was softly stroking her hair as she breathed evenly in her slumber.

Sometime in the period when Blaine was daydreaming everyone had vacated the room, leaving him alone with Bella and the quiet music playing. He can hear Rachel's giggling coming from down the corridor and Finn's hushed voice, obviously trying to quiet her down. There is a cold breeze coming from behind Blaine and, to make sure Bella doesn't get cold, he pulls his jacket over her tiny form. He lays her down on the couch, plumping up the cushions so she's comfortable enough. Kissing her forehead, he makes his way toward where the breeze is coming from. The balcony door is slightly ajar and the sounds of the bustling street can he heard from outside. He steps out onto the cold balcony, the icy air hitting him directly in the face; he can feel his cheeks flush in an attempt to keep the body heat in. Maybe he should go back and get his jacket, but then Bella wouldn't be covered up. And priority was _Bella_, not himself. He strolls to the edge of the balcony and leans on the glass railing, peering over the edge at the moving cars a few stories below. This is one thing Blaine loves about this apartment building; the balconies on every floor. When he is feeling down, he can always go out onto his balcony and just relax, with a blanket around him in case it is cold; the weather in New York City is pretty crazy and unpredictable.

"Hey, you," A soft voice comes from the side, and Blaine almost jumps out of his skin – and over the edge.

"Jesus, Kurt!" Blaine laughs nervously, his hand clutching his chest as his heart rate returns to normal.

"Sorry I scared you." Kurt walks over to him and nudges Blaine's side with his own, smiling as he does so.

"It's fine," Blaine replies, his breath a little ragged still. It's not okay really, he could have easily accidently fallen over the edge, but it's Kurt and he's not complaining that this stunning man is talking to him.

"Bella's a wonderful little girl," Kurt tells him. Blaine already knows this but it's nice hearing from someone else. "She's so bright for such a young age."

"Yeah," Blaine mumbles, trying to shake the feeling that Kurt's warm body pressed up against him is giving him.

"Is everything okay, Blaine? You've been a little distant." Blaine clucks his tongue against the roof of his mouth and sighs. So, he hadn't been hiding _that_ very well. "You don't have to tell me, I'm just being a friend." Kurt reaches out his hand and strokes down Blaine's muscular arm, giving Blaine goose bumps – Blaine tries to convince himself that the goose bumps are just from the cold wind outside and not from Kurt's careful, loving touch.

"No, I'll tell you. It might be good to talk to someone." Blaine lets out a puff of air and relaxes a little, leaning further into Kurt's side, letting the warmth of him radiate through Blaine's body. "I got a call from my brother about two weeks ago; he's coming back to New York." Blaine runs his hand over his chin and feels the stubble that's forming there.

"And your brother is-" Kurt starts but Blaine finishes the sentence for him.

"Bella's biological father." Blaine glances back to the couch where Bella is lay sleeping soundly.

"And you scared that-"

Again, Blaine cuts him off. "That he's going to want to take Bella away from me." Blaine can feel his eyes welling up and he refuses to cry right now, especially in front of Kurt.

"Come here," Kurt shuffles closer and wraps his arms around Blaine. Kurt's much taller than Blaine, and it's comforting to have someone hold him the way he needs. He snuggles his face into Kurt's broad chest and his own arms wind their way around Kurt's back, holding him close.

"Thank you," Blaine mumbles into Kurt's shirt.

"Seems like you needed that," Kurt smiles, pulling back and resting against the railings again.

"Yeah, I did." Blaine laughs nervously and keeps in close proximity to Kurt, feeling the warmth emanating from him still, keeping Blaine warm in the brisk air.

"I'm here for you, Blaine. I know I may not have known you all that long." Blaine grins. He must have known Kurt now for about twelve hours, regardless that he spent most of the day in Kindergarten talking to him, they even had lunch together, and somehow he feels like he's known him all his life. Kurt's amazing and unique, and one of the best people he's ever met, he's sure of it. Blaine could do with a friend like Kurt – though somewhere in his gut he feels that he wants to be much more than just friends with Kurt Hummel.

"Thank you," Blaine says again because he really does mean it.

"You keep saying that, stop. You have nothing to thank me for. You deserve to be…" Kurt stops himself from saying whatever he's about to.

"What?" Blaine asks curiously before shuffling closer and closer to Kurt by the second. Kurt places his hand on the other side of Blaine on the railing as Blaine has literally gotten that close he's almost _underneath_ Kurt.

"Just-" He starts to say something again but stops as his eyes trail from Blaine's emotive hazel eyes, then down to his plump red lips. Blaine subconsciously licks his lips and glances up to Kurt. They're both moving simultaneously closer, their eyes locked on one another lips, Kurt's hand curling around Blaine's side and bringing him forward to very lightly brush his soft lips against Kurt's.

"Blainers?" A tired, quiet voice comes from the balcony doorway. The two men break apart and flush red. Kurt unconsciously straightens out his shirt and moves to stand at least two feet away from Blaine as Isabella rubs her eyes and steps out into the cold, Blaine's jacket wrapped tightly around her shoulders.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" Blaine quickly steps forward and crouches on his knees in front of Bella, who looks like she's been crying.

"I had a bad dream and, then I woke up and didn't know where I was." She sobs into his shoulder. Blaine wraps his arms around her and picks her up, stroking her hair and cuddling her to his chest.

"It's alright sweetie, we'll go home now and get you in bed."

"Can I sleep in your bed?" She mumbles into his neck, and he just nods and kisses her forehead.

"I guess I'll see you Monday," He says to Kurt, who is leaning against the railings watching the interaction, his eyes warmed with love.

"Yeah, I'll see you then. Goodnight Bella." He smiles and softly strokes her curls in a loving manner. "Night Blaine," He says and leans in to press a light kiss to Blaine's cheek.

"Goodnight Kurt." Blaine leans into the brush of lips on his cheek. Bella grumbles into his neck and he rolls his eyes, giving Kurt a smile before heading back inside to grab his phone and keys before heading home.

"Blainers?" Bella whispers as they are making their way down the stairs, her arms still tight around his neck and her legs wrapped around his stomach.

"Yes sweetie?" He asks, reaching his apartment door and fumbling around for his keys in his pocket. He should have just kept them in his hand; he only had to walk down two floors.

"Is Mr Kurt going to be your boyfriend?" Blaine chuckles quietly when he manages to get the key in the lock and twists it.

"I don't know Belle, I don't know," He replies closing the apartment door behind him and locking it once again.

"Do you want him to be?" Blaine kicks open Bella's bedroom and lays her on the bed before getting out her princess nightgown and quickly undressing and redressing her in her pyjamas, then carrying her into his room when she starts to protest.

"Don't you worry about that. Get some sleep beautiful." He presses a light kiss to her lips and then tucks her in. "I love you." He whispers before walking to his dresser and getting out his old sweatshirt that he wears to bed.

"I love you too, Daddy." Blaine's breath hitches in his throat. He turns to see that Bella has her eyes closed and is snoring very lightly. She probably just slipped up, being so tired, but he can't help, but feel his heart swell. She called him _Daddy_.

* * *

It's Tuesday when Blaine see's Kurt again. Monday was a bit of a sham. Kurt had been sent on an errand to get glitter for Rachel, and Blaine had just so happened to drop off Bella while he was out. And then when he came to pick up Bella after school, Kurt had already gone home. He knew he could probably just pop round to Rachel's apartment for a while to see him, but he thought that might be a bit weird.

Rachel had questioned him briefly on the events of Friday night – as she was too drunk to remember - and he just told her she went to bed and about an hour later he and Bella went home. It's true, all of that _did_ happen, he just chose not to mention the part where he and Kurt had a good chat and almost, _almost_, kissed. Blaine feels a little strange about it. He'd known Kurt for about half a day when it almost happened, something inside him was telling him to slow down and just get to know Kurt a little more first, but another part of him was saying, what's the best way to get to know a person? A date.

So, Tuesday morning, Blaine is milling around the Kindergarten classroom well before any of the children are due to arrive. Rachel's chatting away to some members of staff and Blaine's watching Bella play aimlessly with some dolls while his eyes are also subconsciously scoping out for Kurt. His beautiful face emerges through the door at around 8:15am, carrying a brown paper bag with presumably his lunch in. Blaine watches from a distance as Kurt dumps his jacket and lunch bag in Rachel's office, humming to himself as he wanders back in the classroom.

"Blaine," He says once he spots him. Bella looks up at the sound of Kurt's voice and politely waves to him. Kurt waves back and then makes his way to where Blaine is stood. "How are you?"

"I'm alright, thank you. How're you?" It's just polite chat but Blaine wants to get to more pressing matters.

"Good, I'm good. I had fun Friday night, I didn't know Rachel could get so crazy, and I've known her since High School." Kurt laughs and glances around the room for Rachel, who is nowhere to be seen.

"I think she's in a meeting." Blaine informs him.

"We should totally do that again sometime." Kurt mumbles, coming across nervous.

"Yeah, I was actually thinking about doing it again this Friday," Blaine plucks up the courage to say.

"Oh, of course. Maybe a little less karaoke from Rach this time though." The two engage in laughter until Blaine clears his throat and speaks once more.

"Uh, I was thinking maybe this Friday it could just be me and you." Blaine rubs his hand on the back of his neck timidly and watches Kurt's expression change.

"Like a date?" Kurt blurts.

"Yeah, like a date. I can make Rach and Finn babysit Belle for me and, well yeah, I mean you don't have to. Don't feel bad for me because of what I told you, I don't-" Kurt silences his waffling by pressing one of his long, pale fingers to Blaine's lips. And right now Blaine should _not_ be thinking about all the dirty things those fingers could be doing, not in a freaking Kindergarten and _especially_ not with Bella playing a few yards away.

"I'd love to." Kurt puts him out of his misery and grins widely.

"Awesome." Blaine breathes a sigh of relief just as Rachel comes into the classroom from a nearby door that Blaine didn't even know existed.

"Morning boys! Morning Belle!" She calls and wanders to the board to clean off yesterday's date and write today's in its place. "Kurt, would you mind setting up the tables with their morning activity for me please?" Kurt nods and gives a parting wink to Blaine. Blaine hears him ask Bella to help and she willingly does so. He starts to think about Kurt and kids. About how wonderful Kurt is with Bella and he wonders if it might end up permanent.

"You like him, don't you?" Blaine's startled by the sound of Rachel's hushed voice coming from beside him.

"I asked him out." Rachel bounces on her toes and looks up to Blaine expectantly. "He said yes." She beams and wraps one arm loosely around him.

"That's amazing, B. Kurt's a great guy and he really needs someone like you in his life." Rachel smirks and nudges him with her hip. Blaine can't help the smile that creeps onto his face as he nudges her back.

"I'm gonna need you to babysit Belle for me on-"

"Say no more," She interrupts. "I'm there whenever. She can even stay over. If you know what I mean." Rachel wiggles her eyebrows and nudges him again, a little harder his time.

"_Rachel_," He warns. "I don't sleep with guys on the first date, that's just slutty."

"Is Kurt any ordinary guy?" The woman has a point. But Blaine wants to take this slow and, if it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, it doesn't. Hopefully, he'll get more chances on the other dates that will follow.

"I need to get to my class. Have a good day. Bella, I'm going, I'll see you at the end of the day, okay?" Bella drops the pens she has in her little hands and runs straight into Blaine's legs, hugging him tightly.

"Love you Blainers, see you later." Rachel chuckles and she shoos Bella away to get back to work. Kurt looks up from his job placing pots of pens on the desks and waves to Blaine.

"See you at lunch!" He calls as Blaine wanders out through the front entrance and down the block to the High School.

* * *

Blaine's shocked at how fast the remainder of the week passes. His students are rehearsing for the school musical, and so their lessons and after school hours have been taken up by costume rehearsals and script rehearsals. It was a tough week but Blaine managed to scrape through it. However, he couldn't be happier that it's Friday. He's been looking forward to this day all week and now it's _finally_ here.

After just having dismissed his class, Blaine takes a seat at his desk at the front of the class and begins marking some of the tests he's behind on.

"Blainers!" His head jerks up at the sound of Bella's voice. She comes running into the room and dives onto his lap, causing him to flinch and laugh loudly. She almost knees him in his crotch sitting up and flinging her arms around his neck.

"Rachel says you're going out tonight," She says into his neck.

"Where is Rachel?" Blaine asks, wondering why Bella is over in his building without adult supervision.

"She's coming, I just ran ahead. Because I'm staying at Rachel and Finn's tonight, and I'm going to miss you." She informs him, kissing his cheek soppily. Blaine giggles and kisses her back.

"I won't be gone long. And you'll wake up in your own bed tomorrow morning, I promise." Blaine doesn't plan on the date tonight getting much further than maybe a goodnight kiss. And he can't deny he hasn't been thinking about Kurt's glorious lips all week long – among other things that are not to be mentioned, or even thought about again.

"I guess that's okay," She replies, smiling at him widely.

"Did you have a good day at school?" He lifts her up off his lap and sits her on his desk, on the work he's supposed to be doing.

"Yeah, Rachel and Kurt made us all do a dance and it's really funny." Bella proceeds to do the arm movements of the dance and Blaine laughs hysterically at her. Rachel appears at the door of his classroom, but he is too engrossed in watching Bella smile and giggle to notice.

He honestly cannot comprehend how much he loves Bella; it is as if she is his own. Her smile lights up any room and the sound of her laugh makes Blaine want to laugh.

"Blainers?" Her dancing dies down and she leans forward resting her hands on her knobbly knees and her head in her hands. "Are you going out with Kurt tonight?" Blaine honestly doesn't know how to answer that. He's contemplating whether to tell her straight or just avoid the question all together. He doesn't want to lie to Bella, so he's about to change the subject when Rachel's voice comes from the doorway and almost scares him half to death.

"Belle!" She calls. "Come on, we need to go home if we're going to be baking cupcakes." She gestures for Bella to come and hold her hand. Bella hops off the desk, not before kissing Blaine swiftly on the lips, and makes her way over to Rachel.

"Bye Blainers, see you later!" She shouts and takes Rachel's hand in her own tiny one.

"Have fun tonight, B." Rachel winks at him and then leads Bella out with promises of sprinkles on the cupcakes.

Blaine runs his hands through his lightly gelled hair as soon as they are out of earshot. Panic is setting in now. He's getting unreasonably nervous about the date. All he wants to do is impress Kurt and, as much as it may not seem like it, the weight of the world is laying on this date. It's his real first date in years and he really wants it to work out, especially because of _who_ it is with and, if it didn't work out, things might get a little awkward around Finn and Rachel. And Blaine can't risk losing anyone else close to him in his life right now, not with everything going on with Bella and her Dad.

Around one hour later, Blaine has finished marking the tests and has begun to gather his belongings to go home, shower, get ready and hopefully have a wonderful night with Kurt. Butterflies flutter about in his stomach as he walks the two blocks to the nearest subway station and runs down the steps.

The subway isn't all that busy for a Friday evening, and Blaine finds a seat on the train relatively easily. It takes him about fifteen minutes to get to his station and he literally runs the whole way to his apartment building. He feels like going upstairs to check on Bella, but Kurt will be upstairs and he doesn't want to see him before it's necessary. Plus, Rachel has warned him to stay away earlier in the day. And he certainly doesn't want to receive yet another earful from Rachel; he's had enough of those for one lifetime, thank you _very much_.

Dumping his shoulder bag and jacket on the living room couch, he makes his way to his bedroom to quickly shower and change. His clothes for the night are already hung on his closet door, ready to be worn. Blaine always likes to be well organized, especially when it comes to important matters, and in his eyes this date is a _very_ important.

He showers in record time, washing his hair and then towel drying himself. He uses his favourite deodorant and brushes his teeth thoroughly. With the towel wrapped securely around his waist, he proceeds to style his hair, using minimal gel for the best look. Once his hair is immaculate, he moves back into his bedroom and begins drying the rest of him off. He puts on his IPod for good measure and, to get his spirits up, dances around his bedroom like a teenager, tidying up as goes along.

Cleaning is Blaine's distraction technique and, because of Bella, he found he has been doing a lot more than he ever thought he would. Bella isn't the average scruffy kid who leaves all their toys out until they get scolded by their parents to put them all away, no. She is actually a very well kept and tidy child, and Blaine has no trouble with her. But, like now, he is nervous and when he gets nervous, he cleans. So, he speeds around Bella's bedroom, straightening things that don't need to be straightened and even giving the wooden floor, throughout the whole apartment, a quick sweep.

When an alarm sounds on his cell phone from his bedroom, he realises he's been cleaning longer than he should have been. He isn't dressed, still decked out in a white towel, and that alarm signalled that Kurt should be arriving at his apartment within the next ten to fifteen minutes. Blaine drops the broom hastily and runs to his bedroom, ridding himself of the low hanging towel as he does so. He literally jumps into his clothing and, as soon as he finishes buttoning up his dark purple shirt, there is a knock at his front door. He rushes to the door, skidding on his socks until he reaches it, colliding with it with a bang.

"Hey," Kurt smiles when Blaine opens the door wide enough to let the man step inside the warmth of his apartment.

"Hey," He leans forward to press a light kiss to Kurt's cheek, and watches as Kurt blushes a little. "Sorry, I'm running a little late. I'll be like two minutes; I just need to put my contact lenses in." Kurt nods and begins wandering around the apartment, admiring the design of it. In all honesty, Blaine's proud of the work he's had done on this apartment, it's like his pride and joy, considering he did most of it himself.

He returns to the living room a few minutes later, no longer wearing his dorky glasses. Kurt's holding a picture frame and Blaine comes up behind him, standing on his tiptoes to peer over his shoulder and see which one he's looking at. It's a picture of Blaine and Cooper. Blaine must have only been around 17 when the picture was taken, and he's smiling widely while Cooper is picking him up and trying to hoist him over his shoulder. Blaine smiles at the picture and softly strokes the frame, remembering the day it was taken.

"That was when he was different. He got in with the wrong people and, well you know…" Blaine didn't really want to continue: it wasn't a topic he ever wanted to speak to anyone about. He definitely didn't want to ruin his first date with Kurt by putting a downer on the night before it had even began.

"You have a look of him," Kurt says, his voice timid, his eyes still looking at the picture. "But you're the nicer looking one." He laughs softly and lets Blaine take the frame from him and place it back on the bookshelf.

"Thanks, I guess." Blaine turns and offers his hand to Kurt, who takes it gratefully. "Are you ready to go?"

"Where are we going?" Kurt asks. He's wondered about this all week and Blaine can see it's killing him to know where he's taking him. But Blaine has kept it a secret all week and he isn't letting up now, not with so little time left.

"Nuh, uh," He says, tapping Kurt on his cute little button nose. "You'll find out once we get there. It's not far, I promise." Kurt sighs in defeat, but let's Blaine lead the way out of the apartment regardless. Blaine is really excited about the night; he has everything crossed that it all goes well. Both he and Kurt are grinning when they step out into the New York streets, and it's not as cold as expected - it has somehow warmed up in the space of a few hours. For that, Blaine is thankful. This is all turning out to be perfect and the night hasn't even started yet.

"Lead the way, Mr Anderson." Blaine laughs at the use of his title and last name. It's not exactly strange hearing it from Kurt, he hears it often enough at work, but that's not the point. The point is, it's said in a sweet and caring way, unlike at work when it's said with annoyance or exhaustion. Blaine thinks he likes hearing that from Kurt. In actual fact, Blaine thinks he might like anything Kurt says, just because, well, _Kurt_ says it.

They stroll hand in hand to the subway station and not once receive a strange look from passers-by; that's the good thing about New York. There are so many different people and it really doesn't bother anyone that it's two guys walking down the street hand in hand. Most people, now, find it quite cute. Blaine has always found that a little weird.

* * *

"I've had a lovely night," Kurt tells him as they stop outside their apartment building. It's weird for Blaine to think that this is in fact their apartment building, yet they don't live in the same apartment.

"Yeah, me too." A kid drives past on a bike and almost knocks Blaine flying to the concrete sidewalk. Kurt catches him, holding him up with both his hands and bringing him flush against him. They're silent for a few seconds, just staring at one another, their eyes glistening in the soft light of the street lamps.

It's Kurt who leans in first, but Blaine soon follows. Within a millisecond, their lips are softly brushing. Kurt's arms wind around Blaine's neck as they stand under the light of the street lamp and kiss fervently. Kurt whines into the kiss, his mouth opening ever so slightly. Blaine takes this as an invitation to slide his tongue into Kurt's hot mouth, which involuntarily causes Kurt to shiver and tug Blaine closer by the collar of his jacket.

They break apart when someone wolf whistles at them from across the street. Blaine is utterly embarrassed to find out it's one of his neighbours.

"Get some, Anderson!" Blaine laughs into Kurt's shoulder, where his forehead is resting in order for him to get his breath back. Kurt's arms are still wrapped tightly around Blaine, keeping him warm as well as making him feel safe in someone else's arms.

"Who was that?" Kurt asks when the man chuckles and passes by them, patting Blaine on the back and then running inside the apartment building.

"He's one of my neighbours. Lives next door to me." Blaine informs him. He moves his head up to meet Kurt's eyes with his own, and they speak so much it makes Blaine's head spin. His own eyes could never be that emotive. Kurt leans forward again to chastely kiss Blaine's lips. He melts, literally _melts_, into the kiss, letting Kurt take full control of everything.

"I don't usually do this on first dates, but I was wondering if you'd wanna come back to my apartment?" Blaine utters against the other man's soft lips. He then realises that he has just implied, and jumps to try and take it back. "I don't mean for like, sex." He pulls back, watching Kurt's face nervously, looking for any sign the man might bolt. "I'd just like to spend some more time with you, nothing has to hap -" He gets interrupted by Kurt's lips and if he says so himself, it's a brilliant way to get silenced.

"I'd love to," Kurt mumbles, pulling away from Blaine and resting their foreheads together. Blaine smiles nervously and takes Kurt's warm hand in his, leading him indoors and to the elevator.

The ride up to Blaine's apartment is silent, mainly because there is another person in the elevator with them, but the other reason is that the air between Kurt and Blaine is tense, and could easily be cut with a butcher's knife. As soon as the doors ping open as it reaches Blaine's floor, Kurt rushes out, Blaine hot on his heels. He checks the hallway and then swiftly shoves Blaine against the nearest wall and kisses him senseless. Blaine pants against his lips and chuckles, pushing lightly at Kurt's chest to get him to stop.

"Kurt, Kurt," He manages to stutter out when Kurt moves his lips down Blaine's neck and sucks and nibbles in different places there. "We can't do this here," He whispers, but his body is saying differently. His hand comes up to the back of Kurt's neck where it keeps his head where it is, letting Kurt continue doing those glorious things with his mouth. He can feel Kurt smile against the sensitive skin of his neck.

"Well, then hurry and get to your apartment." Kurt finally lets up and steps backwards, keeping his hand still in Blaine's as they rush frantically to Blaine's apartment door. He fiddles with the key for a little while before finally opening the door and then slamming it closed behind them once they're inside. Kurt shoves him up against the door and kisses him again. Blaine isn't usually one to let things get this far on the first date, but with Kurt everything feels so much different. And besides, Kurt's the one that initiated it; _twice_.

"Are you sure about this?" Blaine pulls back from the kiss to hum into Kurt's neck as Kurt lets his hands roam over Blaine's chest and up to his arms, shrugging him out of this jacket and letting it drop to the wooden floor. "We agreed nothing has to happen Kurt, it's only the first date and I really want more with you." Kurt stops his fiery kissing and looks Blaine directly in the eyes, the blue specs turning to green in the darkness of his apartment.

"Blaine," Kurt places his hands on Blaine's cheeks. "I want more dates with you too, and you're right, nothing has to happen, but what's wrong with a little making out?" Blaine has to agree. There is absolutely _nothing_ wrong with that. He nods and leans forward to press his swollen lips to Kurt's once again. Feeling the heat spread from Kurt's body to his and back again, it's a circle and Blaine can feel that all too familiar heat pooling in his belly. He needs to pull away.

"Can we move from here?" He asks, gently pushing Kurt backwards and turning to flick the light switch on. "It's a little uncomfortable against a door knob." Kurt can't help but giggle like a child.

"Of course." Despite it being Blaine's apartment, Kurt's the one that leads Blaine by the hand to the couch. They settle there before Blaine makes the first move. He leans across the small distance between them and captures Kurt's lips. It starts out sweet and loving, but soon moulds into passionate and desperate, and Blaine honestly doesn't know where his confidence sprouted from. He's never usually this forward with _anyone_. There's something about Kurt that's different though. Blaine feels like he's laying his heart on the line while he's just kissing him. God knows what it's going to feel like if they ever get to do anything more. Oh, the possibility of that makes Blaine grin into the passionate kiss. Kurt has rid himself of his own jacket and shoes, and is allowing Blaine to half lie on top of him on the couch, his hands winding themselves into Blaine's curls and tugging on them harshly when the kiss gets even fiercer.

They must have been kissing for about twenty minutes straight when Blaine feels a vibration on his thigh. It's his cell phone. He pulls back from Kurt with a smack of lips and an awkward smile, sitting upright and sighing heavily. He tugs his cell phone from his jeans pocket and glances at the caller ID. Kurt sits up beside him, straightening out his hair and clothing, all the while watching Blaine's face curiously as it freezes.

"What's wrong?" He asks and risks a glance at Blaine's still ringing cell phone. "Are you going to answer that?" He questions further.

Blaine doesn't know what to answer so he mumbles; "It's Cooper." Kurt's eyes widen a little as he does a double take. Blaine's older brother is calling him, and Kurt remembers last Friday when Blaine had told him about the whole situation with Cooper. This could _not_ end well.

The phone stops ringing and Blaine lets it fall from his grasp and land in his lap.

"You should have answered it; it wouldn't hurt to know what he wanted." Blaine can't think straight right now and Kurt's words are just going in one ear and out the other.

A bleep from his phone signals that he has received a voicemail. He might as well check that - it will be less hassle than having to actually have a conversation with his ass of a brother. He clicks the 'call voicemail' button and brings the phone up to his ear. Kurt asks him to put it on speaker phone and so Blaine obeys, thinking that it might be better for someone who is thinking logically to listen to it as well.

"_Hey, baby brother_." Cooper's such a sarcastic douchebag. How can he still think he can even say Blaine is related to him after all this time and all the trouble he has caused him? "_I'd just like to let you know, as common courtesy, that I shall be in New York real soon, not set an exact date yet. But I'll text you with details._" The little click tells Blaine that's all that's on the message. He stays frozen, his hair dishevelled from the intense make out with Kurt, who is sat next to him, rubbing his arm soothingly. Blaine stays silent, his mind pondering the possibilities of what may come from his older brother's visit to New York. Will he be staying? Will he try and make things right with Blaine? Will he want to meet Bella? Hell, will he want to get to know Bella? What if he wants to take Bella away from Blaine? Blaine would try his best to not let that happen, but he is not Bella's legal guardian. Without his brother's permission, he's technically nothing in Isabella's life except her Uncle. He certainly doesn't want to go back to being her Uncle when he's been the closest thing she's had to a father for four years.

"Are you okay?" Kurt's soft voice startles Blaine and brings him back to reality. The atmosphere in the room has suddenly become tense and even a little awkward. This was so not how he planned his Friday night with Kurt.

"I'm sorry," He whispers.

"What are you sorry for?" Kurt asks, baffled, and scoots closer to Blaine, running his hand down the length of Blaine's arm and clasping their hands together.

"Ruining tonight," Blaine states.

"You haven't ruined tonight, Blaine. I had a lovely time and I would certainly be up for a rain check on this." He smiles and settles into Blaine's side, holding him close and pressing his lips to Blaine's temple, kissing lightly at the curls falling out of the gel there.

"I have ruined tonight, I'm so sorry. But I'd love to take you out again." Kurt laughs against Blaine's hair and shakes his head.

"Oh, no. Next time it's on me." They only went out for a meal and to see a movie after, but Kurt had enjoyed every minute of it.

"But I have the perfect place in mind to take you." Blaine protests.

"Then I guess they'll have to be a third date." A third date sounds brilliant in Blaine's head. He nods enthusiastically and turns to press a light kiss to Kurt's lips, feeling the other man respond correspondingly and moan very quietly into the kiss, which is building passion by the second. It's only when something triggers a memory in Blaine's brain that he pulls back and sighs loudly, placing a hand on Kurt's chest and pushing him backwards ever so slightly.

"I promised Bella that she'd wake up in her own room, as much as I would like for this to continue, Belle will not be happy if she wakes up with Rachel and Finn standing over her tomorrow morning." Blaine glances at the clock on the wall and notes that the time is; 11:56pm.

"I understand." Kurt replies and shuffles to the edge of the couch to hoist himself up.

Kurt puts on his shoes and jacket and they, together, make their way up three flights of stairs to Rachel and Finn's (and temporarily Kurt's) apartment. Kurt opens the door with his keys, but Finn is still up and watching the TV on a low volume.

"Hey guys," He mumbles when he sees them walk past him. If they were burgled Finn would not be a good defence tactic. He didn't even hear anyone come into the apartment.

Kurt and Blaine whisper replies and then tiptoe to Rachel's bedroom, the door is slightly ajar so Kurt pops his head round and see's Rachel sat up in bed, reading a book with a sleeping Bella next to her. Blaine quickly strides over and sits at the edge of the bed. He strokes Bella's hair to try and stir her awake a little.

"Did you have a good night guys?"

Blaine hesitates in his answer so Kurt steps in for him. "It was lovely. Blaine's a real charmer." He winks at Blaine, who in return, sends him a nod of appreciation for not mentioning anything about why their night came to an abrupt stop.

"Well, she's been an angel B, but I thought you might have been gone longer so I let her fall asleep in here, I don't think Finn was too impressed, but who cares." She chuckles as she puts her bookmark in her book and then places it neatly on the nightstand. She leans over to press a kiss to Bella's hair and then ruffles Blaine's too. "Well, I'll leave you guys alone for a minute." She scurries out of her bedroom, closing the door behind her. Blaine stands up and walks slowly over to Kurt. He rests one hand on Kurt's smooth cheek and tilts his head down to meet his own in a loving, yet tense, kiss.

"I guess I'll see you Monday," Kurt mumbles as he pulls back, a little breathless. Blaine nods and kisses him lightly once more before walking back to the bed and picking Bella up bridal style. Kurt opens all the doors for him and even helps him to his apartment and aids him in tucking Bella in bed. They kiss once more, a long, ten minute kiss, at Blaine's apartment door and then part ways for the night - with promises of definitely doing this again and a little bickering on who will be paying next time. It's cute and awfully domestic for a first date, but Blaine couldn't be less fussed. He enjoys spending time with Kurt and who cares if he's only known him a week or so. He feels like Kurt's the one. The _one_. And it's weird, that right now, after closing the apartment door, locking it and putting the alarm system on, undressing and climbing into bed, all he can think about is how much he wishes he had the old Cooper back. The one who actually cared about what went on in Blaine's life. He falls asleep to the sound of the wind blowing outside his window and images of Kurt's face mixed in with his brother's.

* * *

The next date Kurt and Blaine go on is the Friday after their first. It's apparently Kurt's turn to pay, and so he takes Blaine out for a lovely dinner and gets VIP passes to Mamma Mia on Broadway. Blaine is ecstatic, also annoyed that Kurt spent so much money, but ecstatic nonetheless. Kurt informs him that night that he didn't spend as much money as Blaine might have thought, since knew one of the cast members and they owed him a favour, so he took it. The show's great and meeting the cast backstage is even better. Blaine couldn't have been more thankful.

They spend the rest of the night, when they get back to Blaine's apartment, making out on the couch. They've literally got all the time in the world as this week Bella begged to stay over at Rachel's. During their intense make out session, Blaine blurts out whether Kurt wants to be his boyfriend or not. Kurt giggles loudly, brings Blaine's face back down to kiss him and replies with a swift, '_of course I will'_. Blaine went to sleep that night with Kurt in his bed, naked and sweaty, tucked under his arm, and completely content.

Everything is working out right now for him. And no matter what is going to happen with his brother, Blaine now knows he has a boyfriend that he can turn to. He honestly can't wait to tell everyone at work and his best friend. He knew where he was taking Kurt next week.

They planned another date for the Friday after that. Bella, again, was perfectly happy with staying over at Rachel's. And Blaine began to wonder what they were doing that made her want to stay over so much. He'd get Kurt to observe for him sometime.

This week his plan was to take Kurt to his favourite bar to meet his best friend.

"Kurt, this is Esme," He introduces Kurt to the petite brunette girl who sings in the bar every Friday and Saturday night – when she can anyway. "Esme, this is Kurt, my boyfriend." Esme literally squeals with delight when Blaine introduces him as his _boyfriend_. She spends a good portion of the night discussing Blaine with Kurt. Blaine is embarrassed because of some of the things Esme is telling Kurt about, but Kurt doesn't seem bothered and he's having the time of his life learning about his boyfriend.

During the course of the night, Blaine and Esme perform many duets and even manage to get Kurt up to sing once. All three end up drinking way too much. Esme spills highly classified details about her job and totally regrets everything in the morning. Working for the FBI doesn't always have its perks.

A little after one am, they bid Esme their goodbyes and stumble the few blocks back to Blaine's apartment. They spend the early hours of the morning, giggling drunkenly and making love until well into the sunlight hours. They lay awake, snuggled in each other's arms until dawn breaks, which is when they finally drift off to sleep. When they go up to collect Bella on the Saturday and take her to Central Park for the day, both of them wear sunglasses and huddle together on one of the many park benches whilst Bella plays on the swings.

Bella has taken a liking to Kurt very much and they spend an awful lot of time together during the week. Blaine's come home from work late plenty of times to find Kurt and Bella playing dress up or with Barbie's in her bedroom. It's horribly domestic, but adoringly so. Blaine comes home so often and just stands in the door way of Bella's bedroom until one of them notices he's there, and watches them making stupid voices for the dolls and dressing them up in outfits.

It's after about three weeks of being with Kurt that Blaine realises he's in love with him. And it's a week after that that he tells him. Kurt automatically says it back, with no hesitation. And it's only about three days after the 'I love you' that Blaine hands Kurt a long, thin red box with a white ribbon tied around it. It's a key to Blaine's apartment, and even though anyone on the outside might think their relationship is going fast, they don't care. Things are going perfect for them and that's how they're going to stay.

That same day, Blaine introduces Kurt to his Mom, who adores him and they end up scheduling shopping trips together. Blaine's happy. Kurt's happy. Bella's happy. And with her and Kurt's birthday on the same day next week, that's all the two can talk about. Kurt jokes continuously with Blaine, telling him he's expecting something amazing and Bella just genuinely _is_ expecting something amazing. Typical boyfriend and kid, always taking his money off him. Blaine feels like a real dad, and finally getting their presents planned and Bella's party sorted, he feels like the master of everything. Nothing could be better right now, so hopefully things can't get worse.

* * *

The morning of Kurt and Bella's birthday, Blaine's woken up by Belle jumping up and down on his bed. Kurt is lay next to him and almost has a heart attack when he opens his eyes and finds a –as of today- six year old staring at him. Blaine has to quickly reach out under the covers and grab Kurt by the sleeve of his shirt to keep him from falling off the bed. Another good reason why they made sure to put clothes on after their escapades last night. That and the fact that Bella is jumping crazily, sending the bed sheets flying each time.

"Belle, Belle!" Blaine tugs on her arm to stop her from jumping. "Calm down, sweetie." She collapses on the bed in between Kurt and Blaine and lays her head on Kurt's pillow.

"It's our birthday, Kurt! Are you excited about our party later?" It's not Kurt's party at all; Chuck E Cheese isn't really Kurt's style.

"Of course, I am," Kurt perks. He runs his fingers through Bella's curls, hoisting himself up on his elbow. As he is doing so, he manages to get a glimpse of the time. "Oh my god, Belle it's 4:30 in the morning." Blaine snorts, his arm over his eyes. He wondered why it was so dark when she first came in. He feels Bella giggle and crawl under the covers, wedging herself between the two men.

"Belle, go to sleep. We'll wake you up at a more reasonable hour. Okay? _Buonanotte_," Blaine mumbles and kisses her hair.

They stay silent for a few minutes, making sure Bella's sound asleep, before Blaine leans over her and Kurt meets him in the middle, their lips slotting together for a brief kiss.

"Happy birthday, beautiful." Blaine watches as, even in the dim light of his bedroom, Kurt blush a deep shade of red.

"Go back to sleep, Blaine," Kurt pecks his lips one last time before finding his hand and intertwining their fingers together, laying their clasped hands over Bella's sleeping form. "Thank you." Blaine hears Kurt mumble as he's drifting off to sleep.

* * *

When Isabella wakes them up again, a few hours later, she's still as lively as ever, but does leave them alone for a few minutes to get up. When they arrive in the living room, Kurt decked out in one of Blaine's old college hoodies -which he has now decided he owns- Bella's already sat comfortably on the couch, watching early Saturday morning cartoons. Kurt chuckles and sits beside her, asking her what she's watching. She informs him that it's Tom and Jerry, and they begin talking about all the best cartoons.

Blaine takes this opportunity to run upstairs to Rachel and Finn's to get Bella's present. They hand the box to him with gleaming smiles and promises to be at the party an hour or so earlier to help him set up. He thanks them and returns back to his apartment. Kurt has made breakfast for them all, just pancakes and, by the looks of it, Bella's already eaten hers. She's a fast eater, like Blaine.

When Bella see's the box Blaine is carrying she squeals with delight and hops up and down on the couch.

"Now, when you open this up, I want you to be very careful, okay?" Blaine carefully places the cardboard box in front of Bella on the couch and watches her eyes widen in amazement. Kurt comes behind him and settles a hand on his shoulder, sipping at his coffee and handing Blaine a steaming cup too. Blaine accepts it with a smile and tilts his head up, pursing his lips for a kiss. Kurt chuckles and dips his head, capturing Blaine's lips ever so softly before stepping back and eyeing Bella, who is still staring at the box with wonder.

"Are you gonna open it?" Kurt asks. He can't deny that when Blaine told him what he had gotten for Belle's birthday he was sceptical, but now he thinks she's going to absolutely adore it. Kurt just hopes he can do the same, especially considering he spends most of his time here now.

Bella doesn't verbally reply, she just looks up to Blaine for confirmation and when he nods, she proceeds to open the box. She lets out a loud, high pitched, squeak when she sees its contents.

"Oh my god, Blainers! It's a doggy!" Bella's digging her hands inside the box and trying to capture the little animal between her chubby little hands. Blaine laughs loudly and sets his mug off coffee down to aid her. Between the two of them they manage to get the tiny puppy out of the box and have her placed on Bella's lap in a matter of minutes. Kurt's stroking up and down Blaine's back with his palm and grinning whilst he watches Bella admire the puppy wriggling on her lap. She pets it ever so gently and then looks up.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" She questions, not quite old enough to know how to tell the difference properly.

"She's a beautiful girl. What are you gonna call her?" Bella nuzzles the puppy's nose with her own and sniffs experimentally.

"I don't know," She whispers, too mesmerised by the dog clawing at her pyjamas to fully acknowledge what is being said to her. Kurt perches himself on the edge of the coffee table and rests his hand on Blaine's knee. He gets a little twinge through his chest when he looks at Bella; it's as if she is his own. It's very similar to the feeling he gets around Blaine, but at the same time it's also entirely different.

The puppy is cautiously strolling around Bella's lap and she decides to set it on the wooden floor. It struggles to get its balance for a minute before Bella's right beside it, whispering words of encouragement and walking it round in circles about the apartment. Kurt settles in beside Blaine on the couch and leans into him.

"I wonder what names she's going to choose," Blaine speaks his thoughts aloud as he watches Bella parade around the apartment, chatting incessantly to the puppy, who looks vaguely interested in what the little six year old is saying. The dog is following Bella around and sniffing at the ground every time the little girl stops to show it a room. Blaine watches as Bella pats the little dog's butt and guides it into her bedroom.

"Hm," Kurt mumbles with no real meaning. It's more of a content sigh. The warmth of Blaine's body against his makes him feel at home and safe, and he thinks if the world ended right now he wouldn't even care.

"I have your gift too," Blaine smiles, turning his head to place a kiss to Kurt's hair.

"You didn't have to get me a gift, I told you that." Kurt sighs and lifts up, his eyes roaming Blaine's smiling face and resting on his wide, hazel eyes that are glistening with something.

"It's nothing huge, don't worry." Blaine jumps up, pecks Kurt on the lips and with a quick '_I'll be right back, don't move_,' rushes off to his bedroom and returns half a minute later with an extremely neatly wrapped long box that looks like it could fit a tie. Kurt wonders idly if that's what Blaine had gotten him; a tie. And in all honesty, Kurt wouldn't be fussed if that was what he had gotten him. Anything from Blaine, in Kurt's eyes, would be amazing, full stop.

Blaine glides back in beside Kurt and hands him the box with a big smile across his face.

"I hope you like it." Kurt carefully tears the wrapping paper off and all that is inside is a black box. He lets the discarded paper fall to his lap and then eases off the lid. His breath hitches.

"Blaine, you…you shouldn't have." Kurt's speechless.

"I noticed that when you were finger painting with Belle a few weeks back your other one got pink paint on it, and that material is silk, paint would never come out. And I know it's your only one. So, here's a new one." Kurt carefully lifts the delicate scarf out of the box and caresses it in his hands. It's different to his other, but if he does say so, it's much nicer.

"Blaine, this must have cost you a fortune, I cannot believe you." Kurt slides the Alexander McQueen scarf around his neck and tightens it, tilting his head down so he can admire the view.

"I'd do anything for the one I love," Kurt leans forward and silences him with a kiss. The best way to be silenced, that's what Blaine had told him anyway.

"I love you too," He murmurs when he pulls back from the kiss. Blaine breaks into a smile and brings Kurt's lips back to his, holding him close by the scarf around his neck.

"Blainers, Kurt!" Bella shouts, entering the room, dog in tow. She pauses when she's sees them kissing and smirks. Kurt flushes and pulls back, removing the scarf from his neck and folding it back up neatly. "What kind of doggy is this?" She gestures to the puppy at her feet, looking up at her with curious eyes.

"She's a Chihuahua." Blaine says, shifting in his seat and edging slightly away from Kurt. He knows Bella isn't bothered by them kissing, but it's just not really something Blaine thinks should be shown to a little girl.

"Well, I've named her Frankie." Kurt nods, but Blaine frowns.

"Why Frankie?" He asks.

"Because I showed her a picture of Uncle Frank and she barked at him." Blaine has to cover his mouth with his hand to stop himself from laughing. Bella's Uncle Frank, isn't really her Uncle, he's Blaine's best friend's brothers boyfriend. And wow, is that a mouthful. Frank has only been round a few times before, but Bella took a liking to him the first time she ever laid eyes on him.

"Well, that's as good a reason as any," Kurt laughs. Bella smiles and then jogs off back to her bedroom, Frankie following closely behind.

"Looks like you've got your work cut out for you. I think Bella and _Frankie_ will get along nicely." Kurt falls into Blaine's arms and lays his head on his chest. "Thank you for my scarf, you really shouldn't have, but I appreciate it." Blaine leans down and kisses Kurt hard on the mouth, full of passion and a hint of lust.

"Nuh, uh," Kurt chuckles, pulling back and speaking into Blaine's neck. "We can save that for later, okay." Blaine rolls his eyes and ignores Kurt.

"I love you," He whispers before sealing their mouths together in a heated kiss.

"And that's Daddy and Daddy's boyfriend, but I think Kurt is going to be Daddy's husband soon." Blaine pulls back with a smack of lips to see Bella and Frankie wandering past, not paying any attention to them and guiding Frankie into the kitchen. "Do you want some water? Yeah?" She asks the dog and then reaches into the cupboard and pulls out a small bowl, fills it with water from the sink – using her stool so she can see it - and then places it on the floor in front of Frankie, who guzzles it down.

"Did she just-" Kurt starts, but is cut off by Blaine.

"Yeah, she did." Kurt lifts himself up and turns to see Bella chatting to the dog again, sat on the kitchen floor beside it, while it drinks its water. Kurt can't believe what he just heard from her and, by the looks of it, neither can Blaine.

"Well, I suggest you start planning on where you're going to propose to me Mr," Kurt laughs and taps Blaine's nose. "If Belle wants it, you know it's going to come true." Blaine sits there speechless as Kurt stands, present in hand. "I'm going to jump in the shower. Maybe you should call Rach, get her to bring Belle's presents. That poor dog is going to end up sleeping in Bella's bed with her if you don't get it a bed of its own organised." Kurt leans to peck Blaine's lips and then strolls off to the bedroom.

* * *

Bella's been pestering Kurt and Blaine for the past hour; she has decided she doesn't want to leave Frankie home alone. Blaine had to explain that Frankie wouldn't be alone; Finn would be taking care of her. But apparently the only people that are allowed to take care of Frankie are herself, Blaine and Kurt.

So, after a long argument between Blaine and Bella whilst they are all getting ready, Kurt soothes his boyfriend and tells him to just let her have her way, it is her birthday after all. Blaine can't say no to Kurt and so gives in way too easily.

Bella, upon hearing the good news, comes bounding into Blaine's bedroom, where he is half dressed and dives on the bed beside Kurt with Frankie in her hands. She and Kurt play with the tiny dog while Blaine finishes getting ready. Kurt feels so much at home lay on Blaine's bed, a six year old and a Chihuahua beside him.

After the fiasco with the dog, there's a knock at Blaine's door and then Rachel and Finn come wandering in, arms full of presents for Bella, who appears not to be fussed about all the gifts, she just keeps Frankie snuggled to her chest and shows her off to everyone. Blaine can tell he's going to have the time of his life with this dog. He starts to wonder why he ever thought of getting her a puppy.

He enjoys a few minutes of peace with Kurt while Rachel and Finn are obsessing over Bella. Blaine's glad he gets to spend some time with his boyfriend on his birthday, bearing in mind he'll be stuck with a bunch of kids all day. Thankfully though, Rachel and Finn opted to have Bella sleep over at their place tonight so Kurt and Blaine could have some privacy.

"Why did I think a puppy was a good idea?" Blaine sighs, collapsing in a heap on the bed beside Kurt, who is flicking through the book that Finn bought him for his birthday.

"Don't ask me, I don't know what goes on in that head of yours," Kurt says without looking up.

"It's just," Blaine groans into the pillow. "Ugh, why do I put myself through these things?" He slams his fist down into the mattress and Kurt chuckles at his misfortune.

"Hey, you're not the one who has to sit in the corner of Chuck E Cheese with a dog." Kurt complains, closing the book now and setting it down on the nightstand which has quickly become his nightstand.

"You're not the one who has to pay for this stupid party. I don't understand why Belle couldn't have just come out for a nice meal with us." Blaine is still lay face down and so his voice is pretty muffled. Kurt lays down on his stomach beside him so he can hear him better.

"Uh, because she's six, not thirty six," Kurt chuckles and presses a kiss to Blaine's temple that lingers a little longer than it should, especially with Blaine's bedroom door still wide open. "Hey, look at me," Kurt tickles under Blaine's chin causing the other man to squirm and giggle before finally looking up at Kurt, who is now propped up on his elbow. "It's just a few hours and then we get to come home, eat a very romantic dinner which I imagine you have already planned." Kurt eyes Blaine warily, until he cracks and smirks, telling Kurt what he already knows. "And then we get some alone time." Blaine hums at that and tilts his head up to meet Kurt's in a fierce kiss.

"Dudes," Finn coughs awkwardly at the bedroom door. "It's like, almost midday. The party starts soon, are you guys, uh," Another cough, "ready?" Kurt pushes himself up and off the bed in one swift movement. He wanders to the floor length mirror on Blaine's closet door and checks himself out. He gussies up a little and then hands Blaine his jacket.

Once out in the living room, Bella's chatting to Rachel about how much she loves her puppy and that she even convinced Blaine to let her take Frankie to the party with them. Rachel's grinning and petting the dog the whole time, listening intently to what the little girl has to say.

Finn calls everyone to order a few minutes later, telling them if they don't leave now they are going to be late for Bella's own birthday party. As soon as she hears this, she's up on her feet, clutching Frankie to her chest and parading out of the front door, everyone else in tow.

* * *

Kurt honestly cannot believe he agreed to do this. He's sat in Chuck E Cheese, surrounded by screaming children and their parents trying to contain them, with a tiny puppy cowering on his lap. The poor thing must be terrified of all the noise. Kurt certainly is.

He spends most of his time watching Blaine though, watching how he speaks to the several parents of Bella's friends and, every now and then, he will look over and wink to Kurt. It makes his heart flutter with delight and he just can't wait to get home. There it is again. That word. _Home_. He used it earlier when he was lay on the bed with Blaine. Blaine's apartment isn't his home, but then again neither is Finn and Rachel's. For some reason, Blaine's place feels more like home than Rachel's does. And he's known Blaine for a few weeks longer than he's actually been dating him.

Kurt hasn't realised that, while he's been day dreaming, Blaine has actually come to sit beside him, looking exhausted. When Kurt finally notices him, he has his head on the table and is sighing loudly.

"Hey," He rubs up and down his back in a soothing manner. "Everything okay?" Blaine doesn't say anything. He just shuffles his chair closer to Kurt's and rests a hand on his knee, squeezing lightly.

"Kids are nightmares. And Bella is way too hyper. I am so glad she is staying at Rachel and Finn's tonight." Kurt chuckles and rests his hand on top of Blaine's, which is still on his knee.

"Aw, sweetie," Kurt coos and leans to nuzzle Blaine's neck with his nose. Frankie magically perks up from her previous cowering and is right there beside Kurt, licking at Blaine's neck. Blaine shies away from it and bats the dog away.

"Frankie," Kurt scolds and pats the dogs back as she settles back in his lap, waggling her little tail back and forth. "I think I'm gonna let Frankie get some fresh air, maybe she needs to pee or something, and she's getting a little restless anyway." Kurt sighs, lifting the tiny dog with just the palm of his hand and standing up. Blaine follows Kurt's body with his eyes until he reaches his face and smiles up at him.

"Okay, I'll be here, wallowing in my self-pity." Kurt chuckles and proceeds to kiss Blaine swiftly on the mouth, hoping no one homophobic saw, and then heads toward the exit. The Godly exit.

Once outside, he sets Frankie on some nearby grass and lets her do her business. It's not that cold out and so he sits on a wall, and watches the dog walk slowly up and down the grass. This is obviously all new to her and it is pretty cute to watch her discover it for the first time.

He decides on staying outside for a little while longer, hearing nothing but the traffic passing rather than screaming five and six year olds. For Kurt, it's heaven.

Frankie comes to sit by his feet once she gets tired of walking and settles her tiny little head on Kurt's Dr Marten boots. He smiles down at the little dog and bends to softly stroke her fur.

He's startled when someone comes and sits down beside him on the wall. He jumps, pressing a hand to his chest and breathing heavily. At first, he thinks it's Blaine, with the resemblance being crazily similar. But then when the light shines on him directly, he notices that the man's hair is a slightly lighter colour. Also, he has blue eyes and is a hell of a lot taller than Blaine – which isn't really _that_ hard, considering Blaine's a midget.

He knows that face, he's seen it before. For sure.

"Hi, can I help you?" Kurt questions. The man is eyeing him, weighing him up and down, and it makes Kurt feel uncomfortable.

"No, I'm just waiting for a party to end." He gestures toward the building filled with children and smiles a crooked smile that Kurt recognises so badly, but he doesn't want to say anything.

"Oh, are you one of Bella's friend's Dads?" He probes. He knows Bella's party is the only one going on right now because Blaine made sure to hire out the whole place for two hours. It must have cost him a fortune, but Blaine has the money.

"You could say that," The man smirks. Kurt begins to wonder if he's a creep and shuffles away from him an inch or so. "Who's this little guy?" He scratches at Frankie's ears, waking her from her slumber. The dog buries herself into Kurt's boots and growls a tiny growl at the man. Kurt is glad the dog knows something's wrong with this guy and he's not just going crazy.

"This is Frankie, she's Bella's birthday gift." Kurt informs him, and to be honest, he doesn't know why he's divulging information like that.

"Really," The man chokes. "Blaine was never the dog type." This guy had to be friends of some sort with Blaine if he knew him by name and the way he was talking about him. Kurt was trying desperately to place his face, but his memory wasn't working properly.

"You know Blaine?" Kurt is genuinely curious now. This guy is awfully strange to him, but apparently he knows his boyfriend so he needs to find out who he is.

"Yeah, I do. How do _you_ know Blaine?"

Kurt doesn't like that he diverts the question right back to him once he's given a brief answer. But he answers anyway, "I'm his boyfriend." The man almost falls backwards off the wall.

"Oh, wow. I've missed a lot then." Okay, Kurt is utterly baffled right now. Who the hell is this guy?

"I'm sorry, but if you don't mind me asking, who are you?" Kurt finally plucks up the courage to ask him straight.

"Cooper," The man says and offers his hand to Kurt. "Cooper Anderson," Kurt freezes mid shake. "Blaine's older brother."

Oh man.

* * *

**Reviews welcome. :) Thanks for reading guys. Part 2 coming soon..stay tuned.**


	2. Part 2

**Hello guys! Update day! :)**

**So here's part 2. It's a continuation from the last part, it happens like straight after.**

**I'm updating from my friends house, this is how committed I am to you guys :) And also my friend has begged and threatened me to update! **

**Enjoy :)**

* * *

Blaine's exhausted. It's too hot. There are too many five year olds running round and all he wants to do is go home and relax. But apparently that isn't going to be happening for him anytime soon. One of the kids has just fallen over, running and come crying to Blaine. Bella links the little girl's arm in her own and tries to calm her down. Blaine does his best with her, hugging her and then getting her a drink to cool off for a minute before sending her back in with Bella.

He's about to go and look for Kurt, because he's been longer than he said he would, when he spots him walking in, dog in hand, face looking like he's seen a ghost. Blaine can't help but smile, Frankie probably did something disgusting and he's mortified by it. But then he spots the man following closely behind Kurt. That snarky face, Blaine knows it so well, the blue of his eyes that's completely different to Blaine's, yet somehow they're related. The way he smiles at everything, even though there is nothing to smile at. Blaine feels like he's going to throw up. There are butterflies fluttering in his stomach, and not the good kind of butterflies. He stands up abruptly. just as Kurt and the man reach his table. Kurt looks shocked and worried at the same time. He can't speak as he steps aside and allows Blaine to look at the man fully. He hasn't changed one bit.

"Cooper," Blaine speaks in a low octave, his voice wavering slightly.

"Blaine!" Cooper shouts and pulls his younger brother into a bear hug, shocking Blaine to his core and jolting him with the force of the hug. Kurt just stands there, Frankie squirming in his arms, his face confused and lips parted slightly.

"What are you doing here?" Blaine stutters out once he gains his breath back when Cooper lets go of him and sits down on one of the chairs at the table. Blain follows suit and sits beside him. Kurt walks around the table before sitting in the chair nearest Blaine and resting one comforting hand on his knee.

"I left you a voicemail, did you not get it?" Cooper smiles and takes Blaine's Diet Coke, draining it without permission. Typical Cooper Anderson.

"Uh, yeah I got it. I just didn't think it would be this soon."

"It's been like, almost a month since I left you that, squirt." Cooper laughs and ruffles Blaine's hair.

Blaine bats him away and sighs. "Don't call me that," He grumbles, edging away from his annoying and irresponsible older brother.

"So, Kurt here tells me you and him are somewhat of an item." Cooper blatantly ignores Blaine's comment and turns his attention to Kurt instead, faking a smile at him.

"Yeah, we are, but not that that's really any of your business," Blaine snaps, this is so Cooper - thinking he can just stroll back into Blaine's life all these years later, acting like nothing's happened between them. He's at his own daughter's birthday party, for Christ sake and he doesn't even seem to care.

"Of course it's my business, squirt." Blaine rolls his eyes and feels his cheeks heat up with embarrassment. "My baby brother finally has a boyfriend. It's about time, huh?" Blaine cannot believe this.

"I've had boyfriends before, Cooper; you were just never around to meet any of them."

"Well," Cooper's eyebrows knit together, Blaine can tell he's holding back anger. "I guess this one is special then." Well, he is right about _one_ thing, at least. Kurt is special.

"Blainers! Can I get a -" Bella comes running and collides into Blaine's legs. His arms automatically wind around her as she looks up to Cooper, her face flushed and hair stuck to her head. Apparently, Kurt knows what she was about to ask because he's there with a paper cup filled with juice, smiling nervously as he hands it to her. She guzzles it down before frowning up at Blaine.

"Who's that?" She whispers to Blaine. He stutters, unable to answer. Should he tell her? Right now, at her birthday party, in front of all her friends? He doesn't think he should. He doesn't want to ruin this day for her.

"He's a friend of mine. Listen, sweetie, why don't you go and find Rachel and Finn, because the party should be ending real soon. Tell them to come and find me, okay?" Bella nods her head, curls moving with it as she runs off to search for Rachel.

"A friend?" Cooper questions arrogantly.

"What was I supposed to say, Coop? 'It's your Dad; you know the one that left you at one year old, the one that hasn't even had the decency to send you a birthday card. No, she'll find out when I want her to find out. She isn't your daughter anymore, Cooper, you can't call the shots." Kurt can sense Blaine getting riled up. Luckily, Rachel arrives in the nick of time; she takes Frankie off of Kurt and wanders off to help Bella make sure all her friends get to their parents. Kurt rests a warm hand on Blaine's buff chest and relaxes him.

"Hey, let's not get worked up," He says, rubbing his thumb back and forth over one of the buttons on Blaine's shirt. "Let's get these kids out of here and let's get home before we start getting angry, okay?" Blaine's eyes seek out Kurt's and he noticeably relaxes, his shoulders slumping and his hand curling around Kurt's, their fingers intertwining on his chest.

"Cooper, I can't deal with this right now. I have like, thirty kids that need to be sorted out, Bella is going to stay with Rachel and Finn tonight, and all that needs to be sorted." Cooper shoves his hands in his jeans pockets and smiles warmly at Blaine.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I can see you have a lot on your plate. Well, I'm gonna be in New York for a while, I'll drop by whenever." Before Blaine can protest, Cooper has turned on his heels and is pushing his way out of the door and into the street, getting lost in foot traffic.

"This cannot be happening," Blaine murmurs and lets his head drop onto Kurt's shoulder.

"It'll be okay, I promise." Kurt peppers Blaine's sticky, matted curls with kisses. "I love you." He lifts Blaine's chin by his finger and presses a light kiss to his lips.

"Love you, too." It's still new to them, but it feels amazing to say it aloud. For a moment, Blaine forgets all about what's just happened. All he sees is Kurt Hummel, his beautiful boyfriend, stood in front of him, smiling like there's no tomorrow. His face is a little flushed from the stifling heat inside this place, his lips are red and slightly puckered from the brief kiss, and his eyes are glinting with something new - something glorious. _Love_. Blaine can see it, he can feel it, and right now he's touching it. Love. That four letter word that he didn't think would ever happen to him. Yet, here it is, standing before him, in all its glory. For that moment and that moment only, Blaine wishes his life could be simple. Simple in that, it would just be him and Kurt against the world.

But, reality soon comes creeping back. Bella's making her way back to him, Finn in tow. Most of the party has cleared out now, Rachel is just waiting on two kids parents to get there things before they go.

"Finn," Blaine pulls the other man aside for a second, letting Bella run into Kurt's arms and tell him all about her amazing party. Finn steps aside and looks down to Blaine. "There's been some issues with some stuff." Vague, he knows, but Finn doesn't even seem fazed by it. "Belle might not be coming round tonight and, if she does, it might be later than I said. I just need to sort out some stuff with her."

"Hey, dude, it's totally okay. She's your daughter." Blaine is about to correct him. She's not his daughter. But in all fairness he's been more of a Father than Cooper ever has been and he will not go down without a fight against his ungrateful older brother.

"Yeah, well thanks. If you could just leave us alone for a few hours or so, that'd be great."

"No worries, man." Finn pats him on the back and then strolls off to find Rachel. In the meantime, while Blaine and Finn had been talking, Bella had gone and collected Frankie from Rachel and now it was just Kurt, the dog, Bella and Blaine left. Blaine gathers his own belongings and waves bye to the supervisor, thanking them for the party, even though Blaine paid for it.

"Do you want me to go home while you talk to Bella?" Blaine frowns at his boyfriend.

"No, of course not. I need you there." Kurt smiles and takes Blaine's swinging hand in his own, clasping their fingers together as they stroll down the street, keeping their eyes on Bella who is walking slightly ahead toward Blaine's car. "Honestly, I just need you." Blaine whispers, barely loud enough for Kurt to hear, but he does. He turns into Blaine's body when they stop at the car. Bella's too busy watching Frankie go for a quick walk on the patch of grass to notice them, so Kurt takes an opportunity. He gently pushes Blaine up against his car and kisses him, soft yet meaningful. The kiss tells Blaine, _I'm here for you, I'm always here for you_. It doesn't last long as Bella is tugging on Kurt's belt and making tutting noises.

"Guys, stop with the PDA." She giggles. "Frankie and I are tired, we need a nap." Kurt laughs loudly, miraculously she has added ten more years overnight instead of one.

"Hey, cheeky. Get in the car!" He lifts her up under her arms and swings her wildly. She clutches Frankie to her chest as she giggles uncontrollably. Blaine just watches the scene play out. Kurt's brilliant with her and he's sure if anything serious happened with Cooper, Kurt would be behind Blaine the whole time. No matter what. That thought was comforting to him.

"Alright guys," He laughs as he hops into his car and switches the engine on. "There's a ton of presents from all your friends in the trunk that you need to open once we get home!" Bella squeals and wraps her arms around Kurt's neck, swinging from his side as he opens the car door and sets her inside.

* * *

"I just cannot believe this is happening right now," Blaine sighs and leans against Kurt's side for support. The two are stood in the doorway of Bella's bedroom, watching her take a nap. The poor kid was drained when she arrived home and was falling asleep opening her presents from her friends. Blaine had to carry her to her bed because she had fallen asleep sat up, her head drooping and eyes fluttering as Frankie licked her face. As soon as Bella was fast asleep in bed, Frankie had followed and jumped on her bed with her, curled up next to her and fell asleep too.

Almost an hour later, Bella was due to go to Rachel and Finn's for the night, but when Blaine had come into her room to wake her, he couldn't bring himself to do it. He hadn't told Bella who Cooper was yet and he didn't plan on doing so today either. Today was supposed to be a happy day. So much for that.

"We'll get through it." Kurt wraps his arms around Blaine's waist from behind and rests his chin on Blaine's shoulder. He kisses Blaine's neck lightly and sighs in contentedness as Bella stirs in her sleep.

"I need to wake her up, but I just can't bring myself to do it." Kurt chuckles and squeezes Blaine tighter.

"She doesn't have to go to Rachel's, she can stay here. This is her home and it's her birthday." Blaine turns in Kurt's grasp and places his hands on either side of Kurt's neck.

"No, it's your birthday too. You're important to me. Cooper is not ruining your birthday as well." Blaine brings his lips to Kurt's, standing on his tiptoes to reach him. Kurt rests his own hands over Blaine's and sighs into the kiss. "Besides, I have plenty of things I want to do to you, and none of those are suitable to do with a six year old in the house."

Kurt chuckles and kisses Blaine one last time, lingering a little before letting his hands skim down Blaine's body to rest on his ass, where he pats him and mumbles in his ear, "You best get cracking with waking Belle up then." Blaine laughs loudly and is thankful when Bella stirs and cracks her eyes open. Frankie's awake soon after.

"Hey, sweetie, did you have a nice nap?" Bella sits up in bed, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands to get the sleep out. She nods to him and searches blindly around her bed for Frankie, who scoots up into her arms when she spots her awake.

"Is it time to go to Rachel's now?" She asks while petting Frankie.

"Only if you want to go," Blaine says. He knows what he's just said to Kurt, but if Bella doesn't want to go then she doesn't have to. Kurt will understand - he was the one who suggested she stay here in the first place.

"No, I want to go." A part of Blaine is thankful. He not only needs time alone with Kurt, but he also needs to try and get his head around what happened today. "Rachel said I can bring Frankie and that we get to bake cupcakes, and not those horrible fake cupcakes Rachel likes, real ones with eggs and everything." Chuckling can he heard from the doorway and Bella looks up to see Kurt stood there.

"Rachel's a little crazy when it comes to food, isn't she?" Bella laughs and gestures for Kurt to come and sit beside her on her bed.

"I bet you're glad you're living here now, so you don't have to put up with her weird food." Kurt freezes. He isn't living here. He's about to tell Bella that she got it wrong when Blaine rests a hand over his thigh, telling him to not say anything.

"Blainers?" Bella speaks up, looking nervous when her eyes meet Blaine's.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"That man at my party today, was he my Daddy?" Blaine stiffens and glances at Kurt, who nods in approval. She needs to know.

"Yes, that was your Daddy and my brother, Cooper." Bella doesn't seem surprised and Blaine finds it strange how she knew who Cooper was. He thinks it must have been some kind of instinct.

"Will he be coming to see me?" Blaine feels bad for her. How innocent she is. How she doesn't understand that her father isn't a nice man and how he didn't even acknowledge his own daughter when she was right in front of him. Blaine doesn't know if Cooper will be back to see Bella or if he will just be back to cause trouble with Blaine. He hopes it is the latter though. As much as Bella needed a father, she has Blaine, and that should be enough.

"I don't know sweetie. Why, do you want him too?"

Bella shrugs her shoulders. "He didn't seem nice. He didn't even say hello to me." Blaine noticeably relaxes.

"Guys," Kurt speaks. "Can I ask you all something?" Both Blaine and Bella look to him a little confused. "I think what we all need right now is a big group hug. Can I get a big hug from you all, Frankie too?" He says before Bella can ask. Bella smiles and nods, scooting forward a little and allowing space for Blaine and Kurt to slot in behind her. Blaine goes first, Kurt follows and then Bella with Frankie in her lap shuffles backwards into their open arms. Kurt wraps an arm around Bella's waist and so does Blaine. The two intertwine their fingers on her stomach. Blaine kisses Bella's forehead as she rests it against Kurt's chest and then moves up to kiss Kurt square on the mouth.

"I love you all, so much. You guys are my life. I hope you all know that." Kurt runs his fingers through Blaine's curls and nods in reply.

"Hey, Blaine," Bella whispers. "For the record, you're my Daddy." Blaine bites his bottom lip to stop himself from grinning uncontrollably. "Kurt, you're my other Daddy. And I love you both. You too, Frankie," She mumbles to the dog in her lap. And Blaine can't stop himself. He lets the tears that have been welling up for a while fall freely and rests his head in the crook of Kurt's neck, dwelling in the fact that here and now he has a family, a _perfect_ family.

* * *

A little over an hour later Kurt and Blaine have just finished Kurt's birthday meal -courtesy of Blaine. White wine, chicken and potatoes, probably Kurt's favourite meal ever, even though most of the time it's pretty bland.

Blaine's just finished cleaning the empty plates up and retreats to the couch, taking his seat beside Kurt and settling in, snuggling up close to him. A DVD is already in the machine from last night, it's Finding Nemo, but neither can be remotely fussed to get up and change it. Besides, the film isn't so bad. At least it's better than Beauty and the Beast that Bella always watches.

They settle into one another, eyes focused on the TV screen, watching as the opening credits begin. Their arms have already wound around each other, it's just like second nature to them now, even though they haven't been together all that long, it's like they're made to fit perfectly with the other.

Everything about them works, there aren't any clashes, any rough spots – as of yet anyway - everything just seems to work. Blaine can't help but smile as Kurt rests his head against his chest and sighs with happiness. His arms are wound tightly around Kurt's torso, their fingers laced together there.

"I've forgotten how much I love this film," Kurt murmurs. Blaine's unsure whether he's speaking to himself or speaking to Blaine, but he rolls with it anyway.

"I know, it used to be my favourite film, but I haven't watched it in so long," He replies, squeezing on his hold of Kurt's fingers. Kurt turns around so he is lay on top of Blaine, their faces inches from each other's. "What is it you like about it?"

"My Dad is exactly like Marlin,"

"He's a clown fish?" Blaine giggles childishly and earns himself a smack from Kurt, who is grinning.

"No, he's not a fish." He can't help but giggle, Blaine is awfully childish but he loves him regardless. "What I mean is that he would do anything for me. Marlin searches the sea for his little boy, he faces sharks and jellyfish and turtles and a forgetful fish. But he never once gives up hope. My Dad would run to the edge of the earth for me." Blaine presses a kiss to Kurt's forehead. He doesn't quite understand why Kurt is telling him this, but he listens anyway. "And that is the difference between you and Cooper." Ah, now Blaine understands. "Cooper wouldn't run to the edge of the earth for Isabella, you know that, you saw how he acted at her party today. If he cared, he would have spoken to her. But he didn't even acknowledge that she was there, yet he knew she was. _You_, Blaine Anderson, would do everything for that little girl and you're not even her biological Father, but that's where the difference is. Even though you aren't directly related to her, you'd still do anything for her. Cooper wouldn't."

"I love you, so much." Kurt just smiles, his eyes loving and caring as he leans in for a soft yet passionate kiss. "Have you had a good birthday? I mean, it could have been better, you know, without Bella's crazy ass party and then Cooper showing -" Kurt silences Blaine with another kiss.

"It's been perfect. The only people I wanted to spend it with, I have done. Thank you for my gift; you really shouldn't have done that."

"It's nothing. You deserve everything, Kurt." Blaine smiles a warm smile. His eyes are trying to speak the words that he can't verbalise.

"You're not happy," Kurt deduces. "Wanna tell me what's wrong?" Blaine shakes his head, he isn't going to ruin Kurt's birthday with his ranting and more than likely crying if things get too out of hand. "Blaine, come on, I'm here for you, please tell me." Kurt uses his puppy dog pleading eyes and Blaine cannot resist.

"What happens if Cooper wants Bella back? I'm not her biological Father. I don't have a leg to stand on if he does. I can't take him to court because I can't fight for something that was never mine to begin with." Blaine's eyes droop with sadness, he knows that if Cooper wants his daughter back, all Blaine can do it sit back and let him take her. He doesn't know how he will cope if that happens.

"Hey," Kurt sits up between Blaine's legs, resting his palms on Blaine's thighs and rubbing up and down soothingly. "That's not going to happen. Blaine, look at me," Kurt forces Blaine to look him directly in the eyes, holding his chin and keeping his gaze for as long as possible. "If you asked Bella right now who she would rather stay with, she'd say you in a heartbeat."

"It doesn't matter what Bella says, she isn't old enough to choose. If Cooper wants her back, he takes her, end of story. I don't even get a chance to fight for her." Blaine's being pessimistic, he knows he is, but he cannot get his mind off this stupid idea. Cooper has come back to New York for God knows what reason and all Blaine can think about is what happens if he takes away Bella? Bella wouldn't want to go but she, just like Blaine, doesn't get a say in the matter.

"We'll cross that bridge when and _if_ we ever come to it. I'll be there for you the whole time, I promise." Kurt tugs Blaine closer by his collar and surges forward, kissing him with everything he's got. Blaine's arms around securely around Kurt's waist and tug him down so he's lay flat on top of Blaine. Their kissing lasts a while longer before Kurt pulls back, panting and kisses his way down Blaine's neck. "Shall we take this to the bedroom?" Kurt mumbles into Blaine's collar where he's sucking a hickey into the sensitive skin.

"Hm, I really…don't want to move right now." Blaine stutters out, his hand moves up to hold the back of Kurt's neck in place.

"I guess we could stay here and then when Bella comes to sit on the couch we'll both die of humiliation and laughter and she won't understand a thing."

Blaine shoots up, shoving Kurt off him and standing up in one go. "Let's not put those images in my head right now." Kurt looks up at him from the couch, trying to hold back his laughter. "Come on, birthday boy, come and get your real birthday present." Kurt giggles loudly and throws his head back, clutching his stomach as he continues to laugh. Blaine runs off in the direction of the bedroom, giggling manically as he does so. After a few seconds of waiting, Kurt decides to get up and follow Blaine to the bedroom.

"The scarfs a big gift Blaine, I don't think you can ever live that up – _oh my god_." Kurt cannot contain his laughter.

Blaine is sprawled out on the bed, decked out in just his underwear, Kurt's new Alexander McQueen scarf wrapped tightly around his neck. "Well, you've changed your tune." Kurt holds his hand over his mouth to attempt to muffle his laughter. "Can I have my scarf back?"

"You want the scarf?" Blaine wiggles his eyebrows trying to be seductive. "Come and get it."

That's all the confirmation Kurt needs to pounce on top of Blaine on his bed and wrap his hand around the scarf, tugging on it to get Blaine's lips to meet his in a heated kiss.

* * *

There's this constant ringing in Blaine's ears and he begins to wonder if he drank anything last night. He doesn't remember drinking anything other than two glasses of wine. It feels strange that he can hear ringing if he doesn't have a hangover. His head isn't banging nor does his body doesn't feel all that sore. He's utterly confused as to what this ringing noise is, but right now he can't bring himself to open his eyes.

A weight is heavy on his chest, but again he refuses to open his eyes. The ringing is getting worse and worse, and it's making Blaine's head hurt. There's now a patting on his chest and everything is making him cranky.

"Blaine," Comes a voice from his side, "Blaine, please answer your phone." _That's_ what the ringing is. He flings his arm in the direction of where he thinks is his nightstand and rummages blindly for his ringing cell phone. Clasping his fingers around it, he clutches it tightly and brings it to his face. He squints his eyes open and slides the 'Answer Call' button across the screen.

"Hello?" His voice is gruff and filled with sleep; he doesn't even know what time it is.

"_Blaine! Sorry for waking you, I know it's early." _Blaine doesn't recognise the voice on the other end of the phone. He lifts up on to his elbows, feeling Kurt's arm slide off his chest and there's a muffled protest from next to him as he shifts so he can see his alarm clock. It reads 6:43am.

"Yeah, damn right it's early." He slumps back into the mattress, searching for Kurt next to him, his eyes barely open.

"_Well, this is important."_ Blaine pulls the phone from his face to see who is actually speaking to him. It's Cooper. His heart skips a beat and he clutches onto whatever part of Kurt he has a hold on, apparently his shoulder. _"I was thinking about taking Bella out for lunch today. You know, for her birthday." _Blaine chokes on air.

"Excuse me?" Kurt turns his head, his brow furrowed when Blaine shoots forward. "Cooper, you're joking right?" Kurt shoots up when he hears Cooper's name spoken and wraps his arm around Blaine's bare torso.

"_Why would I be joking, B?" _Blaine flinches at the nickname; he hasn't been called that by Cooper in years and it feels strange. _"Anyway, I'll be round around 12:30 to pick her up, can't wait. Bye."_ Blaine doesn't get the chance to protest as Cooper has already clicked the phone off. He lets it drop from his grasp and collapses back into Kurt's arms. Kurt doesn't speak, he doesn't need to. He heard enough of the conversation. He knows this is what Blaine has been dreading and it's coming true. Kurt holds him, pressing kisses to his neck and shoulder whenever he feels like. Blaine lets himself be rocked and held like a baby because he feels like a baby right now; useless to what is going on around him.

"Shush, it's okay." Blaine doesn't realise he had been crying until Kurt is pushing him up and pulling him into his lap. He wraps his arms around him and rests his head on his shoulder. Blaine let the tears fall. Cooper is not going to do this. He won't let him do it. "It's just lunch, Blaine; nothing's going to come of it. Bella might not even want to go." Kurt murmurs into his neck, but it isn't helping the tears subside.

"It's n-not going to b-be okay," He stutters, breathing heavily to get his breath back from all the crying.

"It will be, like I said last night. Let's cross that bridge when we come to them. It's only lunch Blaine, there's nothing to be worried about." Blaine wants to believe Kurt, he does. But he knows his brother and he knows it isn't just going to be lunch. Cooper will have tricks up his designer sleeves. He'll have a plan, no doubt about that. And somehow in the midst of it all, Blaine's world will come crashing around him. Cooper does it every time. He used to do it as a kid, so what makes anyone, _especially_ Blaine, think he's changed?

"Cooper's the same old Cooper," Blaine tells Kurt. "He's scheming and will always be that way. There's something bigger than just lunch with him and I just know everything is going to fall around me. I'll have nothing."

"You'll still have me," Kurt whispers. That should be enough. Just having his boyfriend. It should. He's young; he has his whole life ahead of him. But he's given up everything for that little girl, he gave up his youth, he moved states for her and yet, he just knows that Cooper's not going to care about any of that, he'll pry her from Blaine's hands no matter what it takes. Even if that means harming his brother, he'll do it. Cooper is just that way inclined – he gets what he wants and doesn't care who he hurts in the process.

"It's almost seven am; I need to get Bella from Rachel and Finn's soon. She needs to get ready for lunch with her _Father_." Blaine throws the sheet off himself in a huff, almost elbowing Kurt in the stomach. "I'm going to get in the shower."

Kurt watches him go, watches him stomp his way to his bathroom and slam the door behind him. Kurt doesn't know what to do. He collapses back into the messed up sheets and lets out the breath that he didn't know he was holding. It's not fair that Blaine has to watch his brother just saunter back into his life after all these years. Cooper's smarmy and evil and conniving, and everything about him makes Kurt's skin crawl. He will not let anything harm Blaine or Bella. Cooper is going nowhere near any of them. Kurt won't let it happen. He loves them both too much to see them hurt. And honestly, he doesn't think he'd be able to cope with it all either.

* * *

"Do you have everything?" Isabella looks up to Blaine, his expression worried. He's wearing his glasses and Bella knows he only wears his glasses when he's stressed out.

Kurt is stood by his side, holding his hand tightly. Bella loves them together. Kurt is so good for Blaine in every way possible. As soon as they met, Bella knew Kurt was the one for Blaine. She didn't even have to do her amazing match making skills to get them together, they found each other themselves. It was simple on her part.

"Yes, I have everything." She replies. Blaine worries about her way too much. She's going to be fine. It's not like she's going to be gone forever, it's just lunch. All she is doing is getting to know her real dad, and if she actually had a choice in the matter she doesn't think she'd want to get to know him anyway. From her first impression, yesterday at her birthday party, he didn't seem all that nice.

"Don't cross the road without looking for cars and holding Cooper's hand please. Be careful when you're on the subway, don't lose anything, watch where you're walking and just…" Blaine stands up from his crouch and turns his attention to Cooper. "Please watch her, she's allergic to tomatoes so don't let her anything with those in-"

"Blaine, please," Cooper begins. "She'll be fine, won't you Belle?" Bella rolls her eyes at the man. _Belle_ is not a name he is allowed to call her. Only Blaine and Kurt are allowed to call her that – and of course Rachel. It's Isabella or Bella. God, this guy has some learning to do.

"Honestly, Blainers I'll be fine. I'll see you soon, stop worrying about me. I love you." Bella stands on her tiptoes and kisses Blaine on the lips, patting his cheeks with her little hands as she does so. "Bye Kurt, love you too." She says, moving over to Kurt and kissing him on the lips too.

Cooper takes her hand once she's said her goodbyes and waves to the men as she pulls her out of her apartment. They stroll down the street together, hands swinging between them. They don't speak until they're sat on the subway and Bella is forced to sit on Cooper's lap because it's too busy. She doesn't really like the subway - it scares her, all the business people in fancy suits trying to rush to work quickly, on weekdays. Sundays aren't too bad. But at peak times it's still really busy, there are a lot of people that live in New York.

"He's not your Daddy, you know," Cooper pipes up when the train comes to a halt at another stop and people get off and on.

"He's more of a Daddy to me than my real one ever has been." Bella probably shouldn't have said that. She doesn't know his man all that well and even though she knows he is her real Dad, he hasn't acted much like one.

"Your real Daddy has had things to do, he's only been away because he's been trying to find a good house for you to live. Your Uncle Blaine has been looking after you, that's all." Bella doesn't say anything in reply. She knows it's not true. Blaine has been honest with her from day one. She knew what her Dad was like and just because she's sat on his lap right now and he's telling her all these stories, doesn't mean she's going to believe them. She's a smart kid. "I've found a place for us to live, you know."

"Where?" She asks, curiously.

"Paris."

"Isn't that in France?" Bella doesn't want to move to France. She wants to stay here with Blaine and Kurt.

"Yes, it is. Aren't you clever?" Cooper praises her. "Oh, it's our stop, quick jump down." Bella hops off his lap and holds onto the metal pole as the train comes to a stop. She quickly searches for Cooper's hand and let's herself be lead off the train and safely onto the platform. "So what do you think about Paris?" He asks as they are making their way up the steps and onto the bustling streets of New York.

"I don't want to move to Paris." She states simply. "I don't want to move anywhere."

"Why not? You'll be with your Daddy and maybe we can even find you a Mommy. Paris is lovely, you'd love it there. It's very similar to New York. Just better." He stage-whispers.

"I don't want a Mommy, I like living with Uncle Blaine and Kurt -" Cooper interrupts her before she can continue.

"That's not a suitable environment for you; you need a Mommy and a Daddy." Bella can hear in his voice that he's getting angry and she doesn't like it. She just wants to go home. Back to Blaine, back to Kurt, where she's loved and wanted. With Cooper she doesn't feel wanted, she feels like she's part of a silly game. Bella's a person too, she has feelings. "Two men can't take care of you, it's not right." She hears him mumble the last part.

"Well, they've done a better job than you have." Bella snaps. Cooper jerks her hand and pulls them to a stop in the middle of a busy street. He crouches down to her level and takes grips her arms tightly, almost too tightly.

"Bella, I've told you; _Daddy_ has been busy finding us a place to live. Once you see it, you'll love it, I know you will." Cooper kisses her forehead and then stands up, brushing off his jeans and taking Bella's hand again, dragging her across the street and into Johnny Rockets at South Street Sea Port.

"You're not my Daddy." She whispers as he steps in front of her and asks for a table for two. The pretty blonde haired waitress leads them to a booth in the corner and then hands Bella some paper and crayons to colour with. She decides to draw a picture for Blaine and Kurt.

They choose what they want to eat and Bella has to remind Cooper she can't have tomatoes because she's allergic. Cooper mumbles something along the lines of; '_how can a person be allergic to tomatoes, probably because she's lived with Blaine all this time._' She tries to ignore him, but it's just getting her angry. And Bella doesn't like to be angry. It feels weird. She's never angry at home.

The waitress brings over her milkshake and food and she digs in, avoiding Cooper's watchful glare. She feels intimidated by him and she knows that's not how she should feel. He makes her feel scared. Blaine doesn't make her feel like that.

"So, tell me about school then?" Now that's something Bella can talk all day about. She loves school.

"I love school."

Cooper tusks. "Of course you'd love school, Blaine's a teacher. You know, schools a waste of time." Bella frowns.

"Well, I like school. I have lots of friends and Mr Kurt is a great helper -" Bella gets interrupted by Cooper again.

"Whoa, wait a second. _Kurt _teaches at the school too?" Cooper drops his fork and folds his arms over his chest, settling back into his seat and staring down at Bella.

"Not exactly, Kurt is Finn's step-brother, Finn is Rachel's boyfriend and Rachel is Blaine's friend from college. She's also my teacher; they live in the apartment above us." Cooper nods. "Kurt is just a helper in my class, that's how he and Blaine met."

"They met at a school? Wow, that's creepy." Bella feels like Cooper's talking to himself more than her, so she just continues.

"But Kurt's awesome and he really loves Blaine. I can't wait until they get married and adopt me!" Bella squeals excitedly and sips her milkshake. She senses she's said something wrong because Cooper's frozen in his spot, staring at her.

"Adopt you?" He questions. Bella replies with a nod. "Blaine is not adopting you, okay? I won't let him." He leans over to take Bella's hand in his own, squeezing it and then looking at her like he feels sorry for her.

"But, I want them to adopt me. Blaine's already like my Dad." Bella explains, removing her hand from Cooper's grasp and placing it in her lap. "I heard them talking it about, it might have just been like a joke or something well in the future, but they mentioned getting married and then adopting me. I can't wait to help Kurt plan their wedding." She goes off on a tangent rambling to herself whilst Cooper sits there stunned in silence.

They finish their food soon after their conversation. They don't speak much on the subway ride back to Bella's apartment. In fact, Bella doesn't think they speak a word to one another the whole time. It's weird; Cooper was full of conversation half an hour ago while they were talking about school. Bella wanted to talk more about school, but she knew Cooper wasn't listening to her so she stopped talking. She didn't like to be ignored and that's all Cooper had done, ignore her. Well, for the last half an hour he had done.

As soon as she sees her apartment building, she sprints the last few yards and buzzes herself in using her key Blaine had given her last year. She loved doing that; it made her feel like a big girl.

Cooper isn't far behind and she holds the door open for him. He doesn't say thank you like Blaine would, he just steps inside and slams it closed behind him. Bella scurries toward the elevator and clicks the 'Up' button. The ride is awkward. Cooper still hasn't spoken to her. Maybe he doesn't like her. She frowns and clucks her tongue against the roof of her mouth, fiddling with a curl that has escaped from her pony tail. Rachel's never as good with hair as Blaine or Kurt are.

When the elevator stops at her floor, she runs out, down the hall and comes to an abrupt halt at her front door, not bothering to wait for Cooper. She knocks twice, even though she has a key. Kurt opens and then calls out to Blaine to come to the door.

"Hey sweetie!" He cries as Bella jumps into his arms and wraps her little arms tightly around his neck.

"I missed you, Blainers!" She mumbles into his neck as he spins her around giggling.

"Missed me? You were only gone for like, two hours; I thought you would have been gone longer." He kisses her forehead just as Cooper makes an appearance at the front door, leaning against it cockily and folding his arms across his chest.

"Yeah, well I needed to come back here and talk to you." Cooper says. Blaine lets Bella down and taps her lightly on the shoulder.

"Why don't you go and play with Frankie in your room?" Bella senses that she isn't wanted in the room and so nods quickly and scurries off to find Frankie, the only person that really understands what she's going through.

* * *

As soon as Bella is in her room, Cooper stomps his way into Blaine's apartment, closing the door behind him. He makes his way to the couch and settles down, waiting patiently for Kurt and Blaine to follow. Kurt eyes Cooper suspiciously before sitting in the armchair and scooting over so Blaine has enough space to sit next to him.

"Bella tells me you two are going to adopt her?" Blaine stiffens, his body tensing up next to Kurt's. Kurt rests his hand on Blaine's back and rubs up and down. When Cooper doesn't get an answer he decides to continue; "She tells me she heard you guys talking about getting married and adopting her."

"Okay, look, Kurt and I aren't getting married, anytime soon anyway," Blaine smiles and lays his hand on Kurt's thigh. "But yes, it's something we have discussed and before anything happens, we will ask Bella."

"Well, it's not going to happen." Cooper says, standing up, hands on his hips. "I'm taking Bella back. I have a place in Paris and we'll be gone by the end of the month."

"You can't do that Cooper, she doesn't want to go!" Blaine stands up to face his brother. He's much smaller than him, but he's probably just as strong. Kurt stands up to back Blaine, laying a hand flat on his stomach to try and hold him back.

"I can do what I want," Cooper points angrily at Blaine. "She's _my_ daughter, not yours! And you," He turns on Kurt, "You are not allowed anywhere near her. She isn't your kid either, she never will be. You're a cheap dirt bag who obviously only wants my brother for his money,"

"Cooper, stop!" Blaine pushes forward but Kurt holds him back. "Kurt, he is not talking to you like that!" Kurt's not having it though; he won't let Blaine get angry over his dickhead of a brother.

"Shut it, Blaine, I'll talk to him however the hell I want! You two are not getting your filthy faggy hands on my daughter!" Blaine tries not to be offended by the word his own brother uses to describe him, but he can't, because he's not only calling him, but he's calling Kurt as well.

"She hasn't been your daughter since the day she was born. You don't give a crap about her Cooper! She's nothing to you! Where have you been all these years, huh? I've given everything up for that little girl; you are _not _taking her away from me. I will fight to the death for her, she's everything to me." Cooper steps forward and squares up to Blaine.

"If I have to Blaine I will take you to court. I'll file bogus police reports about you and your pathetic _boyfriend_; I'll do everything in my power to make sure she stays away from you." That's the last straw for Blaine. He lunges forward and punches his brother square in the face. Cooper falls to the floor while Kurt struggles to hold Blaine back. He's got him round the waist forcing him backwards when Cooper stands up, wiping the blood from his busted lip and laughing.

"That can be my first report and that's a real one too." Blaine tries again but Kurt's got a strong hold on him, he shoulder checks him backwards so he can't move forward toward Cooper. "I'll be back with the court papers and my lawyer. Give Bella my love, tell her I can't wait until we're in Paris together." Coopers laughing all the way to the door and his laughter can still be heard down the hall.

"He's got no right, Kurt! I don't care if she's his daughter; he hasn't been a Father to her!" Blaine shouts, his anger mounting still. Kurt shoves him all the way backwards and into the wall. He holds him there, hands on either side of his head.

"Blaine?" Kurt and Blaine's heads turn quickly to see the little girl, tears in her eyes, clutching Frankie. "Daddy don't be angry. I don't ever want to leave you, please don't let me go with him." Kurt steps away from Blaine and opens his arms for Bella. She runs into the two, squeezing herself between their legs and hugging them both tightly.

When Kurt looks up Blaine's got tears running down his face. His anger has faded and has been replaced by sadness. Kurt scoops up Bella, who wraps her arms around his neck and cries into his shoulder. He rests against Blaine's body, feeling Blaine's arms wrap around his waist, one hand comes up and strokes Bella's hair.

"We won't let anything happen to you Belle, you're not going anywhere." Kurt whispers into her hair, kissing Blaine's fingers when his hand stops moving. Blaine drops his head onto Kurt's shoulder and tangles his free hand with Kurt's. They share a brief kiss before both turning and kissing Bella on each cheek. She giggles through her tears.

"I love you," She tells them. "I don't care what anyone says, you two are my Daddies."

Blaine starts crying again.

* * *

It's two days later when Blaine gets the letter in his mail box. It's after work when he checks his mail box and finds it, sitting there, smug and daunting, glaring at him for all it's worth.

Okay, so Blaine knows a piece of paper isn't really doing that, but upon seeing the sender address, he begins to think maybe it is. His heart skips a beat and he tears open the envelope and pulls out the paper inside.

_Dear Mr Anderson,_

_Your brother, Cooper Anderson, has informed me that his daughter, Isabella Anderson, is in your custody right now, although it is not legal custody._

_Cooper has explained that he asked to take Isabella back into his custody and you declined._

_Please contact me, regarding this, as it is an important matter. Cooper wishes to take you to court, though I don't think that's necessary. I know you, Blaine and I know you wouldn't want to cause any trouble for yourself or your family._

_If you could get your lawyer however and we can arrange a time to meet and discuss the matter further._

_Many thanks,_

_Mr James Howarth_

_Attorney at Law._

His stomach does a full 360 degree flip. Instead of taking the elevator, he runs six flights of stairs to Kurt's apartment.

Rachel isn't in right now, which is a bonus, she's out with Finn and Bella, they're all watching her rehearsal for a new show on Broadway, Rachel knows the lead actress and so was able to get them backstage and pre-show access. He's glad that he gets to sort this out while Bella isn't there, and Finn and Rachel can't interfere with the matter.

He bangs on the door three times, even though he has a key, and Kurt answers a few seconds later.

"Hey," He smiles a little breathy, but then notices Blaine's facial expression. "What's wrong?" Kurt opens the apartment door wider and Blaine takes that as an invitation to step inside. He doesn't say anything, just holds the piece of fairly crumpled up paper to Kurt's face. Kurt takes it from his shaking hand and quickly reads it. "Oh, Blaine."

Blaine honestly doesn't want to hear it. All he wants – _needs – _right now is to be held by his boyfriend. He sits himself down on the couch and drops his head into his hands. Kurt places the paper, now folded up so Blaine can't see its contents - like that's going to change anything now - and snuggles up to Blaine's side. He moves his hands from Blaine's face and tangles them both with his own.

"Why me?" Blaine stutters, his eyes welling up. "Why does _my _brother have to be a douchebag?" Kurt doesn't know why, so he can't answer that. Blaine's got the weight of the world on his shoulders and all Kurt can do is sit by his side and watch him crumble to the ground.

"Shush, hey, it's going to be okay." Kurt hugs him, rocking him back and forth trying to comfort him.

"You keep saying that, but it's not, is it?" Blaine shouts, pulling back and standing up. Kurt looks shocked but, instead of stopping Blaine, he just lets him carry on shouting. "Every time your optimistic attitude says 'it's going to be okay', it never is! It always seems to get worse!" Blaine paces back and forth, while Kurt just sits there and watches him, shocked but he understands Blaine's anger and hurt.

"Blaine, you need to calm down," He tries to soothe the situation out, but apparently it only makes it worse.

"I don't need to calm down!" He raises his voice again. "I need a miracle, Kurt; I need Bella to stay in my life and my stupid ass brother to fuck off!" Kurt flinches at the sound of Blaine's voice, he's never heard him curse before, it's completely out of character. "But what I want and what I need two different things!"

"You need to stop shouting Blaine; the neighbours might think there's something wrong." Kurt's not at all worried about the neighbours; he's just trying anything to get Blaine to calm down, without putting himself in the line of fire.

"Screw the neighbours! There is something wrong, Kurt! My life!" He literally screams, becoming red in the face. "My whole life is wrong!"

"Your life is not _wrong _Blaine." Kurt tries to reason, but he's now starting to wonder why he bothers.

"What do you know, huh? You've got a perfect life. Your brother isn't an asshole!" That's the final straw.

Kurt stands up. He's not letting Blaine take out his anger on him. It will only hurt both of them. "My life is far from perfect. I live with my freaking step -brother and his crazy ass fiancé. I work as a teaching assistant in a school; do you really think that's what I want to do with my life? I'm completely broke and living off my _Father_. But I don't let any of it get to me, you know why?" Blaine's shocked by Kurt, but his face remains the epitome of cocky. "Because I'm better than that, I'm stronger. And I have people around me who care about me and who I care about. I don't let anything get to me because of everything in the past that I've been through, nothing can stop me now. You need to get your head out of your ass Blaine and realise there are people around you, who love you, who care about you, who will do _anything _for you. I love you Blaine, but I'm not having you take this out on me. It's not my fault. Nor is it your fault. This is happening you just have to deal with it."

Blaine senses that Kurt's finished. He looks at him, his hair slightly dishevelled and his face somewhat angry and upset. He feels bad, but if he gives in now he'll look stupid. And his pride is too much to risk harming. So instead, thinking it's the right thing to do, he picks up the piece of paper from the coffee table and storms out of the apartment.

"That's right Blaine, keep running away from everything! One day it's all going to come back and bite you in the ass!" Kurt shouts back at him as he slams the door and then sinks to the carpeted floor outside the apartment.

What has he done? Now he and Kurt are fighting and everything is falling apart around him. Kurt was right in what he said. He probably did need to get his head out of his ass; if he didn't stop soon he would need a whole new apartment for his growing ego. And now that Cooper is back in town he'll need one for his anger too. Blaine never was good at containing himself, he was always so affectionate and it tended to get him in trouble a lot of the time. So, when Cooper left Bella with him, he closed himself off. There was something about Kurt that made him open back up again and flourish like a flower. But with the loving emotion came the anger too. Blaine hated the anger. He hated what it made him do, how it made him feel, what it did to people around him. What it had just done to Kurt, what it _might_ have done to their relationship.

When Rachel, Finn and Bella return back from their night out and Blaine's still sat outside Kurt's apartment door, they knew something serious has happened.

"Ask Kurt." Blaine says numbly, gets up, takes Bella's hand and takes her back to their apartment. It's late so he gives her a bath, tucks her in bed and then curls up on the couch, the TV on low volume.

He's never felt so stupid in his life before. He needs to make it right with Kurt and soon, because this feeling inside his stomach, the fluttering, the wheezing pain in his chest, it's killing him little by little. He _needs _Kurt, needs him now. It's strange how alone he feels. Kurt doesn't live with him and he hasn't even stayed over since Saturday night, but he feels so lonely, knowing right now they are in a fight.

Even though it's almost midnight, he writes Bella a note and sticks it on the fridge, just in case she wakes up while he is out. He won't be gone long he just needs to apologise to Kurt and it's not like he lives miles away, it's three floors up. He locks the door behind him and then turns to walk up the staircase. He's half way up the first flight, his head down watching where he walks, when he bumps into someone.

"Sorry," He mumbles as he looks up. "Kurt."

"Hi." It's quiet, but audible.

"I'm so sorry." They both speak at the same time and then laugh awkwardly.

"I was coming up to speak to you."

"I was coming _down_ to speak to _you._" Kurt replies and drops down a step so he's on the same one as Blaine. "Shall we go into your apartment? You probably don't want to leave Belle alone." Blaine nods and lets Kurt lead him back inside his own apartment. Once inside and comfortable on the couch, Kurt speaks first.

"I'm sorry for what I said to you. I'm not going to take it back though. It was all true; I just probably could have said it in a nicer way." Blaine shakes his head.

"No, you had every right to tell me that, in fact, I'm glad you did. It's made me realise that I do need to sort myself out. And you're right, I'm going to get through this."

"I wasn't right," Kurt informs him and Blaine's a little taken-a-back. He's about to ask why Kurt thinks that, when Kurt continues. "_You're _not going to get through this; _we _are going to get through this, because I'm going to be there right by your side, the whole time. Even if we go through a horrible break up, I'll still be there, because it's not just you he's messing with Blaine, it's Bella too. And I love that little girl like she's my own."

"I love you so much." He surges forward and crushes his lips to Kurt's. Kurt kisses back with just as much force, his fists curling into Blaine's NYU top that he sleeps in.

"I missed staying here with you tonight," Kurt admits. "Waking up next to you." He smiles as he nuzzles his nose against Blaine's.

"Wake up next to me then." Blaine laughs.

"I plan on doing so now."

"I mean permanently." Kurt pulls back, letting his hands drop from Blaine's shirt.

"You mean -" Kurt doesn't need to continue, he knows he's on the same wavelength as Blaine. Oh my god, Blaine wants him to move in. "Don't you think we're moving too fast?" Kurt's seen movies when the people jump into relationships and then break up. He knows what happens, hell he's seen it in real life. He really doesn't want that to happen to him and Blaine, and so if they have to take it slow they will do. Blaine doesn't seem to think the same as Kurt.

"We move at the pace we want to Kurt, nobody but us can decide whether it's the right time or not. But if you don't want to move in with me, then that's totally fine. We don't have to break up or anything," Kurt silences him with a hard kiss to his lips.

"I'd love to move in with you Blaine, but maybe you should ask Bella first and see what she thinks."

"Is that a yes?" Blaine asks, a smile creeping onto his face. Kurt sighs and nods.

"It's a yes." He replies. Blaine pounces him in a matter of seconds, shoving him backwards so he ends up lying flat on the couch, Blaine's weight on top of him, his mouth kissing everywhere it can.

"I'm sorry for what I said." Blaine's mumbling into Kurt's silky skin.

"Blaine, please stop saying sorry and just kiss me." Kurt moans, his skin flushing pink with embarrassment at the intensity of it.

But Blaine just chuckles and says, "As you wish," And closes his mouth down over Kurt's.

* * *

Kurt, Blaine and Blaine's lawyer, Miss Veronica Wood are sat in Trump Tower. They're in the extremely white, extremely bland lounge outside Mr Howarth's office. Blaine and Kurt's hands are clasped together on Kurt's lap and Blaine's foot is shaking like mad. He can't calm down. Veronica is going through the protocol for this meeting with them both when James Howarth comes out of his office, his smile fake.

"Mr Anderson," Blaine stands up, smoothing out his suit jacket and pants, wiping down his clammy hands before shaking Mr Howarth's. "Miss Wood, lovely to see you again."

"You too, James, though I wish it was under better circumstances." She doesn't offer her hand to James, instead she walks straight into his office.

"And I'm guessing this is…" James doesn't know Kurt's name, but he still offers his hand.

"Kurt, Kurt Hummel, Blaine's boyfriend." Kurt introduces himself as politely as possible. But as soon as he mentions the word 'boyfriend' James becomes disinterested.

"If you would just like to wait out here Mr Hummel while -"

"No, Kurt's coming in. I need him here; he's fighting for this with me too." James nods once very slowly and then leads them into his office where Veronica is pulling out papers from her briefcase and Cooper is sat a chair, his feet on the glass desk. James clucks his tongue and Cooper drops his feet, sitting upright in his seat when James takes the one next to him. Kurt and Blaine sit beside each other, their hands clasped under the table, even though it's clearly visible through the clear glass.

"Okay, let's begin, shall we?" Cooper smooth's down his grey suit jacket and rests his hands a top of the table as his lawyer shuffles papers and then starts speaking. "So, Cooper here explains to me that Blaine, you won't let him have custody of Isabella, his biological daughter." Blaine knows better than to interrupt and he's using all of his willpower to not beat the crap out of Cooper right now. It hurts him to look at his brother's face. "Which if I may say, Blaine is completely out of order. As you full well know, Cooper was out of the country for some time looking for work and housing to bring up his daughter." That's bullshit and everyone in the room knows it.

"Look, Mr Howarth,"

"Please, call me James."

"_James_, you and I both know that is not the truth. Cooper had no intentions of ever raising Isabella; if he did he wouldn't have left her on my doorstep when she was one year old with no information on where he was and what he was doing." James nods in acknowledgement.

"While I understand Cooper has not been the best of parents he has always sent money."

"He has never sent me any money." Blaine interrupts; he is not letting Cooper get away with lie upon lie to get his own way.

"It's not my fault if you changed your bank account." Cooper interjects.

"I didn't change my bank account and regardless if I did all you had to do was call me and ask or hell even call _Mom_. You didn't Cooper. I haven't heard from you in years. You didn't even send your daughter Christmas or Birthday cards." Blaine's getting angry and he's squeezing the life out of Kurt's hand.

"I didn't know your address."

"Stop making excuses for your behaviour Cooper, you know what you've done. Now, I don't know why you want Isabella back all of a sudden, but you do and if you win this there is nothing I can do to stop you from taking her from me. But if you lose this case, you are never seeing your daughter again and I will stick by that. I don't care that you're my brother, the way you treated your own flesh and blood is disgusting and I'm not allowing it." Blaine's fists are clenching and his face is colouring up with an angry colour of red. Kurt is running his hand up and down Blaine's thigh, attempting to sooth him, and for that Blaine is thankful.

"Let's not get angry Mr Anderson." James reasons, even though his eyes are on the papers in front of him. "Now, we don't have much of a case, I know Cooper's story, would you like to tell me yours?"

"Excuse me James, this is my client and I will deal with that," Veronica interrupts and slides a piece of paper over to Blaine. He reads it and nods in acknowledgement.

"You are not taking her away from me, Cooper. If there was another, easier, way to do this then I would. But there isn't. And I'll be taking you to court." Blaine states, his face solemn. He didn't want it to have to come with this, but he knows his brother. In all honesty he didn't think he would even be allowed to fight for Bella, but he is and he will. Cooper will not back down and Blaine is not letting him get custody of Bella when he hasn't been a father to her at all.

"Fine," Cooper smirks, "I have a case, she's my biological daughter, and she isn't yours. I think you need to understand that, Blaine. The courts aren't going to want the child to be given to two gay guys." Blaine knows this. He knows it's going to be difficult, but that's why he's hired the best lawyer he knows and he will make sure his parents are backing him too. Although they may not accept his sexuality as much as he would like them too, they've been good to him with Bella and they don't like Cooper as it is.

"I have a case too Cooper," He informs his smug brother. "I think mine's much stronger than yours. I've been building this case since the day she arrived on my doorstep. I've been waiting for this day to come and now it finally has, I'm ready to fight." Blaine stands up, his hand still tightly clasped with Kurt's. Kurt stands up with him and wraps his arm around Blaine's waist. Cooper rolls his eyes at the interaction between the two men and tusks loudly. James doesn't look impressed himself, but he keeps his eyes downward cast as Veronica throws down the court order on the glass table and then stomps her way out of the office, Kurt and Blaine on her heels.

As soon as they have left the office and are making their way to the elevator, Blaine begins to sag in Kurt's arms. His whole body becomes weak and his legs begin shaking. Kurt holds him up with all the strength he has until they enter the elevator – which is thankfully empty - and Blaine just collapses into him, sobbing violently into Kurt's navy suit. On any other occasion, Kurt would be pissed and tell him to stop slobbering on his designer suit, but right now he isn't remotely bothered.

"Shush, baby, it's okay. Everything's going to be okay." Kurt's arms tighten around Blaine's body and pull him flush against him, pressing feather light kisses into his hair.

"Blaine, honestly, we have a really strong case. You have evidence, probably much more than Cooper does, it's going to be fine. You'll win this." Veronica reassures him. But something tells Kurt it's not just the fact that this court case is happening.

"It's not that, well it is that," Blaine mumbles, his voice scratchy and horse from the crying. "I just never thought I'd end up taking my own brother to court. We used to be best friends, you know. I never expected this to have happened." Blaine began sobbing again, tugging Kurt closer and snuffling into his shoulder.

"I love you. You're so strong for doing this." Kurt kissed Blaine's gelled hair and nuzzled his nose into it, inhaling the strange scent of the gel.

"Am I? Was that the strongest thing I could have done? Why didn't I just let Cooper take her, she _is_ his daughter." Kurt pushes Blaine back and holds him at arm's length by the shoulders.

"That was the _only _thing you could have done Blaine. You know that better than anyone. Cooper was not going to stop. And Bella doesn't want to live with him. She's told us that time and time again." Blaine nods. He shouldn't be second guessing himself but he can't help it. It's in his nature. Especially with everything he's been through. And with everything he's going through right now.

"I just need to let you both know; this is going to be tough. Don't think just because we have a rock solid case that it's going to be a piece of cake. It all depends on what kind of Judge we get, if the guy's homophobic, you're screwed. But I will fight for you. I promise." The elevator pings, signalling they have reached the ground floor. Blaine pulls back from Kurt's grasp, but he keeps his hand intertwined with Kurt's still. He refuses to let go. Kurt is his lifeline right now; he needs to know he's there, both physically and mentally.

"Thank you Veronica. We'll see you soon." She shakes Kurt's free hand and pulls Blaine into an awkward side hug.

"I'll be in touch." Kurt and Blaine stand in the lobby of Trump Tower, hands intertwined, watching Veronica leave.

"Come on Mister, we need to go pick up Bella." Blaine leans up to kiss Kurt, he doesn't care who sees it. He loves this man and they are going through so much together, he's allowed to show his love. Kurt kisses back, cautiously but then tugs lightly on Blaine's hand.

The walk to the reception, hand in their Visitor's passes and stroll out of the building hand in hand. There's so much to come, but right now they have more important things to concentrate on. Bella. She is Blaine's priority and she isn't going to stop being, _ever_.

* * *

**Same time next Wednesday guys? :)**


	3. Part 3

**Well, we've come to the end.**

**I had a blast writing this, I honestly did. And there's a part of me that's not finished in this verse. I have written a few little drabbles as an accompaniment, so look out for them on here & my Tumblr, but I don't think I'll be writing a sequel, unless I get some amazing idea from god knows where.**

**I'm not going to blab on much here, because you all want to get on and read, so a full A/N will be at the bottom.**

**Thanks for your time, enjoy!**

* * *

A little over three weeks later Blaine gets a letter in the mail informing him of the court date. He and Kurt sit down and discuss what they are going to do. They call Veronica and she agrees to talk everything over with them. By the week after everything is sorted. The date is set, his case is strong and everything is looking up, sort of.

Blaine has flatly refused to let Cooper's lawyer speak to Bella. She is much too young to fully understand what is going on and he is not allowing James Howarth to corrupt her mind. He isn't going to stand by and let the guy tell her how amazing her dad is: he's _not_. And he's not going to become amazing either; despite everything he says. A leopard doesn't change its spots.

It's getting awfully close to Blaine's first court date and he is panicking more and more every day, planning and getting things ready that needed to be. He runs through possible questions with Veronica and answers that came up. Kurt is supportive the whole way through and he keeps Bella busy when needed. Blaine takes personal time off work for the case and Rachel makes sure to keep him updated with any work that he might need to know when he returns.

Everyone is a great help to him and for that he is deeply thankful.

It's the night before the first case now and Bella is asleep, tucked up in bed. Kurt and Blaine are snuggled together on the couch watching crappy late night TV. Blaine has been running over the questions and answers over and over again, he is constantly checking that he had all the evidence and that he knows everything that needs to be known.

"You need to relax, sweetie." Kurt tells him, rubbing his hand up and down Blaine's back.

"I know, I know," Blaine huffs and leans back into Kurt's touch. "I'm just terrified something might go wrong and what happens if he's got this amazing case that I never expected." Kurt rolls his eyes and presses a kiss to Blaine's forehead. He curls a loose piece of hair around his finger that's fallen onto Blaine's forehead.

"Nothing's going to go wrong. We have this planned perfectly. It'll be fine, I promise." Blaine looks up to Kurt, his eyes emotive and wide.

"One thing isn't perfect though."

"And what's that?" Kurt strokes his fingers down Blaine's face.

"You're not going to be there." Kurt sighs; he knew it would come to this. Kurt had promised Blaine from day one that he would be there for every court date (if it reached more than one day) and it happens to be the very first court hearing that Kurt can't make.

"I'm so sorry. But with everything that's going on with me right now, with the added pressure of trying to get a stable job, I can't make it." Blaine knows this, he does. Kurt's Dad's been really ill these past few weeks and he needs to keep checking up on him. On top of that, he's been looking for a better job, a job he actually wants for well over a month now. He's had several interviews and none seem to want to take him on. Blaine feels bad for him, but he can't help but wish Kurt would be there tomorrow.

"Just like you can't move in yet." Kurt tenses under Blaine's weight. Blaine probably shouldn't have brought that up right now, or ever. They've been through this time and time again - mainly when Bella had asked. But it always came down to Kurt saying: _I want to move in with you, I do. Now just isn't the right time. _

"Why are you bringing that up?" Kurt sighs and pushes Blaine off him so they can sit face to face. He brings his legs up underneath him and rests most of his weight on his hand which is propped up on the back of the couch.

"I know I shouldn't have done, but you keep avoiding it and maybe now isn't the right time, but why can't you just set a time for it to actually happen." Kurt bites his bottom lip. Blaine really shouldn't be doing this right now, Kurt's not had the best day himself and, with three failed job interviews, he's not in the mood to be starting an argument with his boyfriend, who has a really important court case he needs to be focused on.

"Look, Blaine can we not get into this right now?"

"No, Kurt I think it's time we talked about this. You keep avoiding it. You tell Bella when she asks that it'll be 'soon' but when _is_ 'soon'?" Blaine turns fully to face him. His expression is questioning and Kurt cannot take the pressure of it.

"_Soon."_ Blaine rolls his eyes slowly and methodically. Typical. Kurt always turns to sarcasm when he's in a sticky situation.

"Do you not want to move in with me Kurt?" Blaine finally asks the question that's been bugging him since Kurt agreed to move in, well over a month ago now.

"Of course I want to move in with you Blaine -" Kurt tries to protest, but Blaine isn't having any of it. With so much going on in his life, Blaine will not let something this _simple_ slip by again. It's a yes or no answer; there shouldn't be so many complications that come with it. And not to mention Kurt has already said yes. He's let it happen too many times before and it's a big night for him, so he's getting a little riled up.

"You obviously don't, Kurt." Kurt sighs loudly and looks up at the ceiling, wishing for something to happen, _anything_, that would stop this conversation from happening. Nothing is happening. This conversation is happening and, if it doesn't stop soon, it will turn into a full-fledged argument.

"Blaine, I don't want to discuss this right now. We've both got big days ahead of us tomorrow. Can't we just relax for a couple of hours before reality sets in?" Kurt's attempts at soothing the situation are foiled when Blaine refuses to let him speak longer than ten seconds.

"No, we can't relax Kurt; I want to know why you don't want to move in with me. You're putting it off and putting it off, and I'm starting to think you don't love me." Kurt's mouth falls open. Blaine senses that he might have hit glaring red 'X'. "Maybe you're having second thoughts about our relationship, but you're in too deep already and don't know how to get out."

"Wow, Blaine, that's some conspiracy theory there. You really do have a wondrous imagination." Kurt doesn't sound sure of himself. He runs his hand over his chin and then folds his arms across his chest, puffing out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

Blaine is getting really pissed at Kurt's behaviour. He's been using his defection techniques way too much lately and Blaine is desperate to know why.

He takes a second to compose himself, letting his anger boil down to the pit of his stomach rather than bubbling up into his throat where he can feel it about to burst out of him. He looks at his boyfriend sat across from him. Kurt's face is filled with confusion. It pains Blaine to know that he's the one that's causing the confusion and the hint of hurt he's noticing in Kurt's crystal blue eyes.

The fact that Kurt's evading the question of moving almost every week now is starting to get old and really irritating Blaine. All he wants to know is if Kurt is still in this relationship or if he's fighting for nothing here. And for some reason Kurt won't give him any insight into it.

"Just set me straight here Kurt. Are you still in this relationship with me or are you off wandering elsewhere, because if you want to see other people, I-I mean I wouldn't be happy about it, but it's your choice. Like, what can I do? I know I come with baggage so I'd understand. But please ju-just don't leave me hanging." Blaine feels like he's about to cry. There's a burning sensation in his eyes, his mouth is tight and his stomach is doing 180 degree flips. Everything he's just said is true, he does want to know if Kurt still wants to be with him. But a part of him, a tiny part that is, doesn't want to know and wants to go on pretending nothing is wrong. Though he knows he can't live like that.

Kurt reaches out to take a hold on Blaine's hand and, for a second, Blaine gives in and lets him. Let's the moment ride by with a deep sense of nostalgia. He can sense Kurt isn't going to be here much longer. The foreboding feeling he's been having for weeks has finally come to a halt and all his deepest fears are being laid out in front of him. Just waiting there, waiting for Kurt to very carefully pick one out and crush it in the palm of his beautiful soft hands. Blaine just knows it's going to be his heart that Kurt crushes without a second thought.

He should have more faith in the man he loves - _should_ being the operative word. He should know that Kurt would never do that to him. Not in a million years would he ever think of stringing Kurt along like Kurt's stringing him. But everything that's in front of his eyes is telling him that the man he thought he knew so well isn't the same caring guy as the one he first met. And he has to admit it's slowly but surely killing him.

"Blaine, will you please look at me?" Kurt's angelic voice brings Blaine back to reality – crappy reality. "I love you. I do." Kurt sighs and Blaine knows, he sees it in front of him, in the form of his glorious man, his perfectly coifed hair, his soft blue eyes and the way they light up even the darkest of rooms, his perfectly angled and muscled body, just absolutely everything about this man Blaine loves and adores, and it's sat in front of him, holding his hand, about to tell him his worst and darkest fear. He's opened a can of worms and he now regrets it. There is something much deeper to this whole thing, it's not just to do with moving in together – he can just about see that now.

Kurt's starting to cry, a tear slips down his cheek. On any other occasion Blaine would wipe it away with his calloused thumb and pull the other man into a hug, but this isn't the time to do that.

"Just say it." Blaine stutters out, his hand slipping from Kurt's grasp and falling limp into his lap.

"I love you Blaine, so much it hurts. I can see in your eyes the pain you hold and it's killing me. This whole thing," Kurt gestures wildly with his hands, waving them about in the air before wiping his tear stained eyes and dropping them back into his own lap. "I thought I could handle it. I thought I'd be the strong one, the one to hold your hand through it all and to keep you sane. But I can't, I can't do it." Kurt looks away from Blaine's face, tears falling freely and dropping onto his shirt. He wipes his runny nose on the back of his hand and stares out of the window as he speaks, "It's too much and I don't know how you're handling it if I'm not." Blaine honestly didn't see this coming. He knew that maybe it was something a little more complicated than no longer holding love.

"I need you Kurt, you may not think you're handling it, but you are," Blaine pleads with him, shuffling closer and taking Kurt's hands in his again.

"No, I'm not Blaine." Kurt swallows thickly, a lump forming in his throat. After all this time of hiding his fears, a stupid talk about 'moving in' broke him apart. "I'm putting on this brave face for you and it's crumbling, I can feel it every day. And the more you talk about me moving in with you, the more it gets real. The more my own fears come out and play around in my head. The more I start to think that our relationship is moving way too fast and that this is a reality check – me not being able to give you a definite date for moving in holds a deeper meaning. What you're going through right now is a huge deal and you don't need me and my hassle bugging you." Kurt inhales deeply in an attempt to hold back the flood of tears he can feel building. "I can't move in with you. You need to sort out this court case out and then get your life back on track. I-I can't be involved in that."

Blaine finally breaks; he falls into Kurt's shoulder and sobs loudly and uncontrollably.

"Don't leave me."

"Blaine, _please_ don't do this." Kurt pushes the crying man off him and makes Blaine sit upright. "I've wanted to say this ever since things started getting complicated. I know I'm running away from my problems and I shouldn't do, but y-you just need to do this for yourself." Kurt takes Blaine's hand and squeezes it.

"Kurt, you've been such a great help for me, like you said you've kept me sane. I _need_ you._ Bella_ needs you."

"Don't use that card on me, Blaine." Kurt abruptly stands up and walks to the back of the couch, wiping his eyes as he does so. "Look at me," he says as he leans over and takes Blaine's face in his hands. "You need to understand. I know I'm a coward for doing this, but in my mind I'm doing the right thing. You can't be worrying about our relationship when you have much more difficult and important things to worry about. Bella should be your priority. If it makes you feel better, just think that I don't love you anymore, just think that I told you I don't want to move in with you because I don't love you."

Blaine shakes his head; he could _never_ think that, not if he knows it's not true.

"I think I should go," Kurt says, digging his hand into his jean pocket and producing a little silver key. He places it in Blaine's palm and then closes his fingers around it. "This is for the best, Blaine. Get through this, I'll get through what I have to and we'll see where it takes us."

"Kurt wait!" Blaine calls out, his voice scratchy from crying. Kurt turns on his heels, his eyes red and swollen. "Please just do this one thing for me."

"Anything."

"Kiss me." Kurt is about to decline when Blaine pulls him by his shirt and tugs his mouth down to meet his own. The kiss is salty and wet. Tears are still flowing down both of their cheeks and they are mixing in with their lips.

Kurt pulls away with one last soft peck of lips and then walks out of the apartment door without so much as a glance back.

As soon as the door shuts, Blaine bursts into tears. He _has_ had his heart ripped out. His worst fear. He looks at the discarded food, and the crappy TV that hasn't stopped even though Blaine's world has. He flicks the remote and the TV turns black, the room plunging into almost darkness, the tiny lamp beside him giving the only light in the whole room. He turns that off too and then drags himself to his bedroom – not before making sure the apartment door is locked, which it isn't. Not even bothering to change his clothes, he flings himself onto his bed and sobs into his pillow.

* * *

"So what you're saying is that Mr Anderson is not fit to be a Father?"

"That's what I'm saying, yes."

Blaine has been in the witness stand for well over an hour now, answering question after question from Cooper's lawyer and his own. He read out his statement at the beginning of the case and now he's just getting bored with being asked the same question, but in a different format. His answers are the same no matter what. His case is solid. They aren't going to get him that easily.

"Because he wasn't there for his daughters first few years of life?"

"Yes."

He's had a tough day. Waking up was an effort, and when Rachel came down to pick up Bella and take her to school for the day, she gave him a sympathetic look. She obviously knew what had happened the previous night. He didn't want to speak about it. And so he sent Bella off with a kiss and no words.

"Mr Anderson – my client - informs me that he doesn't think you are fit enough to be a Father yourself as you have a male partner."

"To that statement I would just like to say: my sexuality should not be an issue in this court. I have raised Isabella for almost five years of her life and she's an excellent little girl." The court nods at Blaine's words. He leans forward to the microphone in front of him. "And for the record, I no longer have a partner."

He chokes back a sob that's building in his throat. There is silence in the court – it's not a big court, because it's not really a major case, it's just in one of those tiny rooms with a few witnesses.

"As of?"

"That's really none of your business," Blaine remarks, folding his fingers together and placing his intertwined hands into his lap. Again, he notices some of the court nod in agreement. He's thankful that he court doesn't seem to be homophobic and from the information he received about the judge from Veronica beforehand, neither is the judge.

"Mr Howarth, you are asking inappropriate questions." The Judge speaks loudly. James apologises and then says;

"I have no more questions your honour." And takes his seat beside Cooper.

"Alright then. Court is adjourned, 9am one week's time." The judge bangs down his gavel and then stands up to leave. Blaine is released from the tiny witness stand box and walks over to his lawyer.

"That seemed to go well enough." Veronica informs him as she hands him his shoulder bag.

"Yeah, but we have another one now." Blaine sighs pulling the bag over his head and settling it onto his shoulder.

"Don't worry about that Blaine, you just get back to work. It won't be anything serious, just more questioning for both parties. The judge will have come to his decision by then." She gives him a brief hug and then sends him on his way back to work.

Luckily, the court isn't far from school and, with the weather somewhat nice for the time of year, he decides to walk it. His suit is beginning to itch him after having being sat down all that time, so a walk shouldn't do him any harm.

When he arrives back at school, it's just into 4th period and he slides into his classroom on time, giving the supply teacher a smile and letting them know he won't be needed for the rest of the day. The teacher looks extremely happy and thanks him profusely.

"Mr A, what are you doing in a suit?" One of the girls in his class whistles as she enters and takes her seat. As the rest of the class pile in they notice his choice of clothing and decided to comment too.

"I've been in court this morning." He informs them and then turns to wipe the board clean and writes what they are going to be doing this lesson on it.

"Why?" Someone asks.

"Shut up Jaz, that's personal!" He hears someone else hiss in reply and smirks into the white board. Sometimes he loves his students in his junior class.

"Thank you, Molly," He smiles as he turns back around and puts the cap on the pen. "But yes, sorry Jaz, that is personal.

"We're just concerned Mr A, we hope everything is okay." Jaz smiles softly at him.

"Thank you, but your concerns aren't necessary. Anyway!" He claps his hands together and gathers the attention of the remainder of the class that aren't interested in his personal life. "We have a lot of work to do these next few week guys. With the School production over now we have mid-terms to gear up to, so you need to get a crack on." There are some muffled moans and words of complaint passed around the class.

"Mid-terms already Mr A, it's gone super fast!"

"Yes it has. It's scary." Blaine sits himself at his desk and drops his head into his hands. A headache is surging its way into the front of his head and eyes, and he's in a lot of pain. He thinks it's something to do with the fact that he didn't sleep much last night and he was crying the whole time he was awake.

A knock at his classroom door startles him. "Guys, quiet down please!" He shouts to his class as he looks up to the door. Rachel is stood outside the clear glass of it, her face etched with panic, her little fist pressed up against the glass, the 'O' of her mouth creating condensation. Blaine's up and jogging over to the door in seconds.

"What's wrong?" Rachel's panting for breath; she's obviously just ran almost two blocks from Kindergarten to the High School.

"He-h-he took-"

"Rachel, breathe," Blaine tells her, imitating the breathing motion to her. "Now, tell me what's happened."

"He just-he just walked right in."

"Who did?" Blaine is utterly confused and Rachel isn't making any sense.

"He took her Blaine, Bella is gone."

"Wait, what?" He takes a step back and falls against the door with a resounding thump.

"Cooper," She says like he didn't already know what she was talking about. "He just strolled right in, told the receptionist he was her Dad and took her. Kurt thought you had come to pick her up, that's why he let her go. Oh Blaine please don't blame him, he's sat in my office crying his eyes out right now because he thinks this is his fault!" Rachel's panicking more than Blaine and he needs to calm her down fast before she passes out from a panic attack.

"Rachel, please calm down. Do you know what he said to the receptionist?" He holds her still by her arms and watches her as she thinks about it.

"Just that he was her Dad and he was picking her up early. I only noticed she was gone when I heard one of her friends talking about how awesome her _real_ Dad is with his expensive car and stuff. They were outside playing when it happened. Oh my god, Blaine, I don't know what to do. I'm so sorry!" Rachel's crying and Blaine has had enough crying for a lifetime, he doesn't need to see anymore.

He pushes her back and quickly dismisses his class early. There are some who question it and others who just yell with joy. Right now, he really doesn't care. There are also a few who linger behind just being overall nosey but they soon leave.

"Blaine, are you not worried? She's your daughter." Rachel asks as they rush their way across the street and to the Kindergarten building.

"Of course I'm worried, Rach, I'm just trying to think logically. And not jump into anything without having thought it through first. This needs to be handled correctly." He fishes out his cell phone just as they reach the building. Kurt is stood outside, his eyes red and the sight of it brings a stabbing pain to Blaine's chest. He turns on his heels and waves to Rachel to continue on as he clicks the person's name he wants to call.

"Veronica," He says into the phone. "He took her. He walked into her school and just took her." His voice is a little shaky.

"_Blaine, call the police. Even if you know where he's taken her, call the police. We have a written statement if you do and he will never win this case now."_

Blaine does as he is told.

* * *

"Now, what have you learnt from that?" Blaine is crouched down, smoothing the collar of Bella's jacket out.

"To always tell Kurt or Rachel first if a Receptionist comes and collects me from school." Blaine nods at the little girl in front of him.

"Now kiss please." He demands and she obeys, leaning forward to peak him lightly on the lips.

After one long hectic hour and a half and constant phone calls to his brother Blaine managed to get through and scream down the phone at him to bring Bella back. It took getting in touch with Cooper's lawyer to convince him to bring her back to Blaine.

Cooper now knows he's screwed. His lawyer tried telling Blaine's lawyer that all he wanted to do was take his daughter out for lunch. Blaine's reply was that he should have asked first. Cooper had an answer for everything, but Blaine was no longer interested in what his brother had to say. And apparently Cooper's lawyer wasn't at all impressed with his behaviour either. To win the case now, it would take a miracle.

"I'm sorry, Blainers." Bella mumbles as Blaine pulls her into a hug.

"Hey, you've got nothing to be sorry for. It wasn't your fault." He squeezes her tightly and then stands up. Rachel and Kurt are stood off to the side speaking with the police, who are taking down information for the official statement. After Blaine told them he was in an on-going court case with the man in question, they had refused to leave it be once Bella was back with him and proceeded to take statements from everyone involved to give to the judge personally. Blaine felt like he was gaining something good from this.

"Can we go home now, B?" She looks up at him, her eyes pleading, still a little damp and red from the crying she had done when she ran back into Blaine's waiting arms.

"Of course we can, sweetie. Let me just -" Blaine doesn't finish his sentence he just tugs at Bella's hand and walks her over to Rachel and Kurt.

"Thank you." He speaks to Rachel and Rachel only, he doesn't even acknowledge Kurt's existence.

"I didn't do anything Blaine, if anything I'm the one to blame."

"No, that would be me." Kurt speaks, but Blaine doesn't even turn his head.

"None of you are to blame. Anyway, it's sorted now. Bella and I are going to head home. I'll see you tomorrow, Rach." Blaine pulls Rachel into a hug and then walks off.

"Blaine, are you and Kurt not friends?" Bella asks curiously when they manage to get seats on the subway train.

"Kurt and I are going through a rough spot right now, sweetie." Bella bites her lip and slumps her shoulders.

"I like Kurt." Bella speaks into her jacket that's wrapped around her tightly.

"Yeah, me too." Blaine mumbles, hoping that Bella didn't hear that confession.

* * *

The alarm clock on his nightstand is taunting him. It has been since he bought it. It always shows the wrong time, two minutes too fast or two minutes too slow. It really pisses Blaine off, because tonight it's decided to show the correct time. It matches his cell phone's time perfectly and in all honestly he doesn't give a crap about what time it is. He just wishes this night would hurry the fuck up so he can get on with his life after tomorrow.

It's a little after midnight, but Blaine's been in bed since 10:30pm. He TV is playing in the background but the volume is much too low for Blaine to actually hear it clearly.

Bella's tucked in bed, asleep. She's been super excited for this day to come all week. Blaine hasn't. It's a prince and princess dress up day at school and she already has her costume hung up on her closet door, just waiting to be worn.

Blaine wishes he could still be a kid. He wishes that none of this ever happened. His stupid ass of a brother has caused him so much trouble over the years. He honestly wishes Cooper was never born. But then he thinks to himself, if Cooper wasn't born, Blaine would have never had the amazing childhood he did, he wouldn't have had a wonderful relationship with his cool older brother. Then again, if Cooper hadn't been born, Bella wouldn't have either. And no question about it, she was the highlight of Blaine's life. And right now, the only thing keeping him well and truly alive.

12:08 am. Time is going much too slow for Blaine's liking. He's tried to sleep. No success. He's tried playing games on his phone, reading a book, watching late night crappy TV – though he stopped that and put the news channel on, because the late night repeats of old sitcoms reminds him too much of Kurt. Kurt is not who he needs to be reminded of at this time of night. Everyone knows that when you are sleep deprived and it's past midnight, you do stupid things. Blaine doesn't have the energy to do stupid things tonight.

12:11 am. He flicks through TV channels, getting bored of the same News being repeated over and over. He settles on a movie, an old black and white movie that he doesn't know the name of, but he's much too tired to care. The bed feels empty, even though he's sat directly in the middle of the big double bed, pillows and blankets around him. It feels empty. And it's felt that way since this time last week.

Without speaking to Kurt this past week has been hard. Not just on him but on Bella and Rachel too. Every morning when he drops Belle off at school, Kurt's there, looking as beautiful and flawless as ever, and it kills him. It's like he's being continuously stabbed in the chest with a thousand tiny needles. In all fairness, Kurt doesn't look happy. He looks pretty miserable. And from what Blaine's heard from Rachel he _is_ miserable.

Out of everyone Bella has probably had it the worst. Even though Blaine has lost possibly the love of his life, Bella has taken it the hardest of all. She's just a kid and doesn't understand the kind of trouble that Kurt and Blaine had been and are going through. Having to see Kurt every day at school, when Blaine is ignoring him - being the mature adult he is - is confusing to her. Blaine's had to explain to her countless times that the things between him and Kurt are complicated right now and for her just to leave it alone for a while.

He feels bad for her, he does. She doesn't understand what's going on. He wishes she did though, maybe then he'd have someone to talk to about it. That's the part of him that wants his brother back. The old Cooper. The one who he could just call up when he was feeling down and would sit on the phone with for hours just talking. He misses that more than anything, a friend. He misses his brother being his friend. And he knows that because of what's happened between them these past two weeks - well these past six years really - they are more than likely never going to get that friendship status back.

There's a soft tapping at his bedroom door. He glances to the alarm clock and it reads 12:22 am. Well, at least _some_ time has passed. The door creaks open and a tiny figure with a pink blanket and a teddy bear hanging from her hand steps into the room, her face being illuminated by the glare from the TV screen.

"Blainers," She mumbles. Blaine just throws the sheet off one side of the bed and then pats the empty space – it's normally where Kurt would lie, but he tries not to think about that; much.

"I had a bad dream." She tells him as she climbs up onto the bed and snuggles under the covers.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" He asks in a soothing quiet voice, searching for the TV remote so he can click it off.

"I just want to go to sleep." She stutters and cuddles herself closer into Blaine's side, pillowing her head on his chest.

"Okay, sweetie." The room is plunged into relative darkness when he clicks the power button on the remote and then snuggles down next to her, tucking her in the covers a little.

They lay in total silence for a little while longer. Blaine is staring out of the window into the building across the street, which is mostly all in darkness too. He's kind of thankful he lives in a pretty residential area of Manhattan. Bella hasn't moved an inch since she got comfy and, just as he is beginning to think she's fast asleep, she mumbles into his shirt.

"Blaine?"

"Belle, go to sleep sweetie, you've got school in the morning." He whispers in reply and strokes her hair gently.

"My dream," She continues, ignoring him, "Was about you and Kurt." Blaine holds his breath, his ears pricked, listening carefully to what she's telling him. "I want Kurt back. I love him and you love him. Why isn't he here?" Blaine is about to speak and tell her what he always tells her when she continues again.

"I know you're going to tell me it's complicated, because that's what you always do." He holds back a smile in the dark and buries it in her hair, inhaling the strawberry scent of her kiddie shampoo. "But if you both love each other, I don't think that's complicated." She sniffles, bringing little hand up to wipe her nose. Blaine's shirt is stained with wetness and it's like a stab in the gut to know that she's been worked up and even _crying _over something that isn't her problem, something she shouldn't be worried about, but she is. Right now, Blaine's loves this little girl more than life itself.

"Belle, you're right, I do love Kurt. But I don't think he loves me." Blaine chokes out, it's not actually true. He knows Kurt loves him, but he also knows that in time Kurt is going to fall out of love with him, so what's the issue in a little white lie?

"You're wrong." She states. "Kurt does love you." And that's why Blaine shouldn't lie, because apparently a six year old knows better. "I can see it. He looks at you every morning like you used to look at him, because you don't even look at him anymore." She goes on. "I had a dream that Kurt was really sick and he wanted to tell you, because he loves you and thinks you should know, but because you wouldn't speak to him he didn't tell you. And then one day," Blaine can hear Bella's voice cracking as she spoke. "You took me to school and he wasn't there and, because he wasn't there you asked Rachel what happened and she told you he had died." Blaine is speechless. And it takes a lot for him to be speechless. He cannot believe he's let something this petty and stupid get this far and upset his little girl like this.

"Nothing like that is ever going to happen, sweetie, I promise you." It's a pseudo promise, because Blaine can't stop something like that happening to Kurt. If he is being honest with himself – which he's not - he would have said that he is trying to convince himself that that isn't going to happen, not just Bella.

"It's probably not. But I had a dream, Blaine, and dreams mean something." She is right, they do mean something. Not always what is in the physical content of the dream, but the hidden things within it. Blaine cannot let this go on any longer. It's upsetting Bella and that's not fair. Tomorrow morning he's going to drop her off early at Rachel's and sort this out once and for all. At least that's what he tells himself as he finally drifts off to sleep with Bella curled in his arms.

* * *

"Good morning Blaine and how is my little sunshine? Oh my," Rachel covers her mouth with her hands and crouches down to take in the whole of Bella. "Well, aren't you just the prettiest princess ever!" She squeals and drags Bella inside and makes her do a twirl. Bella's beaming, spinning as she's is instructed, curtseying for Rachel and then giggling when Rachel yells for Kurt to get in the room.

Blaine sucks in a breath. This is it. Kurt strolls in asking why Rachel feels the need to scream at this time in the morning and then spots Bella, and actually squeals a little himself. He picks her up and spins her round a few times before she bats him playfully and exclaims that she's getting dizzy.

While Kurt is cooing over Bella's princess dress – which is custom made, thanks to Kurt himself, but Blaine isn't going to tell Bella that - Blaine calls Rachel over and they head into the small kitchen area to speak privately.

"I want to talk to Kurt." He admits, letting out the breath that he sucked in all that time ago when Kurt first walked into the room, decked out in a stunning navy blue sweater and white skinny jeans – Blaine can't recall the amount of times he's told Kurt not to wear white to work, but Kurt refuses to listen.

"So, talk to him." Rachel says slowly.

"What if he doesn't want to talk to me?" Blaine counteracts.

"Oh for-" Rachel murmurs a few obscenities under her breath, steps outside the kitchen, calls Kurt's name, steps back in to whisper good luck and then leaves abruptly.

Kurt enters a few seconds later, his eyes cast down. He stops in front and a little to the side of Blaine and leans against the counter.

"Rachel says you wanted to speak to me?" He questions, his eyes never leaving the floor.

"Yeah," Blaine stammers out. "Uh, I'm sorry Kurt."

"Sorry for what?" Kurt looks a little confused. Blaine is confused too, he doesn't really know what he's apologised for, because if anybody it should really be Kurt apologising to him, but he doesn't want to make a fool of himself, so he goes with it.

"For ignoring you, I guess." A tiny smile forms on Kurt's mouth and he looks up to meet Blaine's gaze – only briefly though, before looking straight back down again and speaking to the wooden floor.

"You don't have to be sorry for that, Blaine. I completely understand why you would ignore me. Hell, _I'd_ ignore me."

"No, I shouldn't have ignored you at all. When I'm angry or hurt or both," He adds, okay so sue him he wants to try and make Kurt feel a little bad for what he's done. "I tend to get childish and immature, and it's not okay. You deserve better than that." Kurt lets out a puff of air and shrugs his shoulders. Even he knows that's not true.

"I-It-It's just, me ignoring you is upsetting Belle and I don't want that to happen." Too late. "She came to me last night, crying about a bad dream, it was about me and you." _That_ gets his attention. "The details aren't important, but I love you Kurt, I still do and I know you probably don't love me, but I just want you to k-know," Blaine's voice is breaking, but he refuses to cry, not now, not in front of Kurt. "T-that," Blaine can't find the words for what he wants to say, he's stuttering like a teenager with a serious crush and he feels so stupid. "You know what? It doesn't matter. I have a court case-"

"Yeah, Rachel said. Should be the last one." Rachel is such a gossiper. Blaine had specifically told her _not_ to tell Kurt, but did she listen? Obviously not.

"Well, I don't wanna be late. I still need to get dressed and stuff." Blaine gestures to his sweatpants, T-shirt and tousled hair – not really court hearing clothing. "But I guess I just - we can be friends, right?" He finally manages to say.

"Of course, I'd love to be your friend Blaine." Blaine nods; _friend_, that's all he is to Kurt now, a poxy friend.

"Right, well I'm gonna -" Kurt nods and watches as Blaine slides past him, careful not to let any of their body touch each other.

"Good luck." Blaine turns and nods in gratitude, and then closes the kitchen door behind him.

* * *

Kurt leaves the kitchen a few minutes after he hears the apartment door slam shut. Bella is sat on the couch, neatly so she doesn't crease her dress and Rachel is nowhere to be seen.

He ventures to her bedroom, where there are masses of Finn's clothing dotted around the room – wow this place really needs to be organised. He finds her sat at her dressing table doing her own princess make-up for the day.

"I heard." She says when he comes into view.

"Of course you did." The fact that she was eavesdropping doesn't even faze him anymore.

"You should go."

"Go where?"

"To the court hearing." She places down her eyeliner and then picks up the mascara.

"I don't know. I don't think he wants me there, I mean, he did tell you not to tell me the date of it."

Rachel rolls her eyes, drops the mascara onto the desk and then turns in her seat to face him head on.

"You heard him Kurt; he is so in love with you. You _need _to go to that hearing. I see how miserable you are -"

"I am not miserable!" He sounds offended, but he really isn't. He is miserable; he just doesn't want to admit it.

"Oh please, don't pull that crap on me. You're miserable, you're sad and you know it. But you don't have to be Kurt, there is a man living three floors down who loves you so much, and you love him." Rachel cuts Kurt off before he can even register that he wants to speak. "And don't give me the 'it's complicated' speech, I've heard it before and I won't suffer through it again. The only thing that is complicated here Kurt, is you." Ouch. "You and your stupid commitment issues. You have a man who loves you and you can't even see that." That's not true, Kurt does see that. The more he sees it though, the more it affects him.

"I do see it." He whispers, barely audible, but Rachel catches it.

"If you see it, chase it. It's walking away right now and you're just letting it. What happens if he's the one Kurt? In ten years' time when you're in a terrible marriage with someone you don't love because you 'settled' for them, you'll look back to this day and think 'god dammit, why didn't I listen to my best friend, Rachel? She was so wise in her youth'," Kurt smirks.

"You don't have to settle for Blaine, Kurt. He's going to love you unconditionally no matter what. And hey, you even get a bonus with him -" Kurt is silently hoping the bonus Rachel is thinking of isn't of the dirty sort, because that is just not cool – not cool that she knows it's a huge bonus, and when Kurt says huge he means _huge. _

"Bella." Thank god she said that. "That little girl loves you just as much – in a different way of course - but still. She loves you. Take the chance while it's right in front of you Kurt."

"I'll leave you to finish getting dressed." She nods and then continues to finish her make-up.

He leaves her bedroom and wanders back into the living room, where Bella is sat stroking down a crease in her dress, frowning.

"Hey, Belle." The little girl looks up, smiling brightly. "Can I ask you something?" He takes a seat beside her.

"Sure."

"That bad dream you had last night." She purses her lips, looking a little sheepish. "Your Daddy told me about it." Her eyes light up. "But he didn't tell me what it was about, do you wanna tell me so we can maybe talk about it?" She clucks her tongue and then says

"Will you help me get this crease out of my dress before we go to school?" Kurt nods. "Okay, so there was…" Bella trails off into her story about the dream and Kurt listens to every word.

He knows his decision. And, when Rachel takes Bella to school, he lingers behind a few minutes before he gets a text message from Rachel with an address.

* * *

"All rise." The small court all stand simultaneously as the judge enters for the second time this morning and takes his seat at the stand. Veronica takes Blaine's hand and squeezes tightly. He's been gone for just under an hour, deciding his verdict after more questioning of both parties again.

"You may sit." They obey. Blaine glances around the room, noting a few familiar faces of those who were there at the previous trial, who he hadn't even taken notice of when he first entered. Veronica whispers to him that he needs to keep calm and, no matter the verdict, they'll work something out.

Blaine's heart is thumping in his chest. He's honestly worried that people may actually see it or hear it because it's _that_ strong and loud. His hands are shaking and there are those all too familiar butterflies fluttering in his stomach. He just wants his over now.

A creak of a door causes his head to jerk in the direction of the sound. His eyes widen and his heart twinges when he sees the person that's just entered the court room.

Kurt looks embarrassed as he finds a seat near the back and slides into it silently, mumbling an apology to the people in front of him. The judge doesn't even look up from reading the papers in front of him.

Blaine catches Kurt's eye and forces a smile. He's ecstatic that Kurt is here, but he can't bring himself to show it. The judge taps his microphone and clears his throat, and Blaine's head is jerked back to the front of the court.

"I have come to my verdict." Blaine feels like he wants to throw up. "Based on the evidence that both parties have shown, I have come to the decision that Mr Blaine Anderson should have full custody of Isabella Anderson." Blaine chokes back a sob and Veronica pulls him into a bear hug, whispering 'we did it, we did it' over and over in his ear. The court is a little restless, but the judge continues regardless.

"I leave the decision entirely up to Mr Blaine Anderson on what he wishes to do with the issues with his brother, Mr Cooper Anderson. But congratulations Blaine, you legally have a daughter." Blaine is sobbing.

"Case close, court dismissed." And with one last bang of his gavel the judge leaves just as quickly as he came, and then Blaine is surrounded by people congratulating him and wishing him all the best with Bella. People he doesn't even know are hugging him and telling him they were rooting for him all along. Veronica is packing up her papers when Cooper and James make their way across the small gap and to them.

"I guess we'll talk about this then, Blaine."

"I guess we will. I'll call you when I'm ready to." Blaine shakes his brother's hand, feeling like he's on cloud nine. In all his years, he's never beaten his brother at anything, but when comes to important things, the better half always wins. And right now Blaine knows he's the better half.

Cooper grimaces and then walks away.

"Congratulations Blaine," James shakes Blaine's hand. "In all fairness, I probably shouldn't tell you this, but I was rooting for you too." Blaine knows how unprofessional that is for James to be saying that but he can't wipe the smile off his face.

Veronica laughs and then shakes James hand.

"Blaine." _That_ voice. That glorious voice, makes him turn on his heels.

"Kurt," He breathes.

"I'll just leave you two alone, I need to clarify some things anyway and get some papers signed." Veronica speeds off, banging her briefcase on the side as she jogs out of the room.

"Congratulations." Kurt returns Blaine's beaming smile.

"Thank you, I'm glad you came. It means a lot."

"My fairy god mother convinced me." Blaine giggles at the reference. Princess Day at school has obviously done something strange to Kurt's brain.

"Well, thanks." It's a little awkward. Neither men really know what to do and, with a few people, including his brother's lawyer, still milling around the court room, he hopes this doesn't turn into an irrational argument, because he's sick of them.

"Can I hug you?" Blaine can't help but laugh, a little too loudly too.

"You don't need to ask, Kurt." They both step forward and meet in each other's arms. It feels a little nostalgic, but Blaine really doesn't care. With the feelings he's feeling right now and the added sensation of being back in Kurt's arms is sending him a little batshit crazy.

"I really need to go pick up Bella and tell her the good news." Blaine speaks into Kurt's neck – and he doesn't smell the scent of his cologne _at all_, because that's worse than nostalgia; that's being pathetic.

Kurt nods and pulls back, letting Blaine free of the grasp and watching him gather his jacket and pull it on. Blaine smiles a little awkwardly and brushes past Kurt. He's stopped when Kurt's hand clutches at his wrist and he turns to question it, but Kurt's lips are on his and his eyes are closing and he's melting and folding and reeling in it. God, he's missed this.

The kiss is full of passion, full of love and full of everything he's missed in the past week. Kurt's apologising and telling him he loves him in this one kiss. And Blaine's giving as good as he gets. His hand curls into the nape of Kurt's neck, brushing at the hair there as Kurt's hand slides very slowly down from his shoulder and to his lower back, where he tugs him closer.

They're melting back together, joining as one once again in each other's arms and Blaine never wants to stop. Unfortunately he has to. They're in an empty court room and public sex isn't what he needs right now just after he's won the most important case of his life – and it is the most important case of his life, because nothing could ever live up to that moment, that moment of sheer worry and fear and then it all turns around in a matter of minutes. This is the best day ever.

"I-I, _wow_." He pants as he pulls back, bringing both of his hands to cup Kurt's face gently. He strokes over Kurt's kiss-swollen lips with his thumb and then smiles, dropping his head to Kurt's shoulder and kissing at the exposed skin at his collar.

"Come on Mr, let's go pick up your daughter." Kurt laughs and tugs at Blaine's hand to get him moving.

God, does that feel good, hearing Kurt say 'daughter' and knowing that it's true and that it's legal. Bella will always be his daughter, hell she always has been his daughter, but knowing in his mind that it's now legal to call her his daughter makes it all the better.

"And then we're going to get dragged to Rachel's for a celebratory party and hopefully Bella falls asleep so I can spend some much needed time getting acquainted with my new apartment and my new bed."

"Kurt," Blaine pauses and pulls at Kurt's hand stopping them short in the middle of a sidewalk. He hears protests from a few people whose track he is in, but he's not bothered. He's about to have a very important discussion.

"Blaine," Kurt counters.

"If it's not what you want -" Kurt silences him with his lips – and Blaine's _always_ said it's the best way to be shut up.

"It's what I want. It's always been what I want. I was just too scared to admit it before." Kurt pecks Blaine's lips again and then drags him down the nearest subway entrance.

"Okay, if you're sure." Kurt raises a brow and tusks. "Okay, okay. Let's go roomie."

* * *

**Wow, I can't believe this is actually done.**

**I hope you all enjoyed it, and I would just like to give a big thanks to everyone that's favourited this story, reviewed it, story alerted it and everything in between. You guys are the best!**

**By all means, if you have any suggestions on something you might have liked to see in this, that isn't there and would like to see it as maybe a drabble, please message me and I'll see what I can do. Like I said there are some short drabbles so look out for those.**

**I guess now it's just back to updating Hello, Brooklyn on Fridays. So for all of you that were just reading this, thank you so much, I really do appreciate it! Ta, ta for now. And to those reading Hello, Brooklyn, I'll see you Friday.**

**It's been great having you. Hope to see y'all again very soon :)**

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**XOXO. MonstersAreReal. (or if you know me from Tumblr; Stagingagel-ervention)**


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